The Nowell plan to kill time waiting for 'latest ever kick-off'

Rejuvenated England winger Jack Nowell has explained how he will manage his time waiting around for the late 9pm Parisian kick-off time versus France in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations finale. It’s a late-night start that the soon-to-be 29-year-old claims he hasn’t encountered before and while he enjoyed scrummaging with the forwards during last Saturday’s game versus Ireland, he won’t be heading out for an early morning hit-out with the pack.   

Eddie Jones has spoken a lot in recent years about developing hybrid players, getting forwards to play as backs and vice-versa, and this was seen in action in last weekend’s Guinness Six Nations round four game at Twicenkham where winger Nowell packed down as a flanker in the scrum following the 82nd-second red card copped by lock Charlie Ewels. 

Nowell enjoyed himself as a fleeting forward but he won’t be an early riser in Paris to join in with the England pack's usual matchday routine which normally involves a breakfast time gym hit-out to get the blood pumping early. 

“Definitely not,” he quipped when asked if he would be hanging out the forwards when they set about their game-day preparations in France. “They are normally scrummaging and mauling at eight o’clock in the morning, I don’t know what they get up to. 

“I was just happy doing a bit of crossbar challenge on Wednesday and stuff like that with the backs, so it wasn’t too bad. But no, we have all been in this situation before of later kick-offs. Everyone is different and it’s more of an individual thing but we are lucky enough to have everything set up here and ready to go for us. 

“It’s the latest kick-off I have ever been involved in but I actually don’t mind it. I quite like having a lot of time in the day. Other boys are different. Some wake up and just get on with it straight away. If I am honest I will sleep - I like to sleep before the game. I will probably wake up, do my normal stuff in the morning and then head back to bed for a couple of hours sleep before I start getting fired up. 

“Obviously, for us, everything is set. Our timings will all be the same but just moved back a few hours. Our daily routine is set up well by our S&C boys. Once you get to that certain time in the day it will roll into the same if it was a three o’clock kick-off.”

Nowell is taking his place this weekend in a recalibrated England back three. George Furbank has been chosen to start as the full-back for the first time since October 2020 while Freddie Steward, the No15 in the last nine matches, has been elbowed out to the right wing in place of the axed Max Malins. What does the Exeter player make of the reshuffle?  

“You can’t take away from George. He has been training extremely well through this whole Six Nations. This will be the first time I have played with him, so it will be exciting for me. And it just gives Freddie something else to work on. You can get in the game a bit more from the wing and have that more of a free role. It’s a little mix up again but one I know Freddie is looking forward to getting stuck into as well.”