We spoke to England captain Chris Robshaw as he reflected on the autumn internationals, looked ahead to next year's tour of New Zealand and also the long-term build-up to the 2015 World Cup.
Sports science
In his role as a Maxinutrition ambassador at the GSK Human Performance Lab, Robshaw was put through his paces, and he says sports science and nutrition is now more important than ever, with the game so fast and ferocious and the margins between winning and losing so slim.
"It's great to have that scientific approach, the game is a lot more scientific these days. Everybody's seen the pouches in the back of our England shirts which are GPS units, people wear heart rate monitors and then there's the nutrition.
"Seeing what the body actually needs, more calories, less calories, more protein, more carbs - things like that. There's a lot more nutritional elements to the science these days than when I started.
"As soon as you walk off the pitch the guys give you a shake straight away so that your body can start to repair the broken tissue immediately so you're ready for the next training session, the next game.
"Every team's trying to look for that edge, to find that little bit extra and that's the same with all our nutritional information, just getting that right balance can make a difference."
Chris was speaking at the new world class facility, The GSK Human Performance Lab as an ambassador for Maxinutrition.
