Fri 30 Sep 2011 | 10:50
O2 Inside Line - Haskell Cam shears some sheep

3
Comments

It's Friday so time for our regular O2 Inside Line feature with James Haskell and the England team as they explore some of the more interesting regions of New Zealand. Today they're sheep shearing.

It's been an interesting week for England as they've had another controversy, this time on field, with two of their support staff getting in trouble for switching balls during the match against Romania.

The two, kicking coach Dave Alred and fitness coach Paul Stridgeon, have been punished internally so won't be involved in any capacity when it comes to their big match against Scotland this weekend. Rugby World Cup Limited accepted the punishment, so took no further action themselves, which caused a bit of a stir amongst supporters around the globe.

"The RFU fully accepts that the action of those team management members was incorrect and detrimental to the image of the tournament, the game and to English rugby," said the RFU in a statement.

On a lighter note, the squad did a bit of sheep shearing in their time off, as well as visited another school in an attempt to teach Chris Ashton the alphabet. You can see how that went, and catch up on the rest of the Haskell banter, in this week's episode of O2 Inside Line.

To get James Haskell’s inside scoop on the England squad direct from New Zealand, as well as fun features and team chat, sign up for alerts and watch O2 Inside Line on RFU TV at O2InsideLine.com

3 Comments

  • rich_w
    10:26 PM 30/09/2011

    I love these features. Manu just walking around being a unit 'at any moment he could just burst into a full ball carry'. Its pretty hilarious how Haskell and Ashton seem to have become best buddies during their time in the England camp, pretty good double act.

  • 9:34 PM 30/09/2011

    why is it a "zee", i'm assuming they didn't emigrate from the US

  • stroudos
    3:18 PM 30/09/2011

    Excellent. I think these are getting funnier.

    Got to hand it to Haskell: he's created this brash, arrogant media-loving alter-ego and doesn't mind who takes the piss out of it. I think this proves that the public persona isn't necessarily his real character. Anyone who's as happy to be laughed at himself as much as they're keen to dish it out is OK in my book.