England Rugby utilise the world-class facilities at LJMU's School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Professor Graeme Close outside the environmental chambers with England Rugby’s Tom Curry and Chris Ashton

In preparation for this year's World Cup, England Head Coach Eddie Jones brought the Northern-based players of his squad to LJMU to utilise the state-of-the-art sport science facilities. Players underwent physical testing including heat familiarisation tests in the School's environmental chambers recreating the exact climate the team could expect to face during the World Cup in Japan.

The session was coordinated via LJMU staff member Professor Graeme Close (programme manager for the MSc Sport Nutrition) who also works with England Rugby as their nutritionist. It was fair to say Eddie and his team were delighted with the facilities within the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences stating that:

“It's been great spending the day here at LJMU. The facilities are first class and the staff have a great understating of how to translate the research into applied practice. We would happily come back again sometime”.

Professor Close has worked with England Rugby for three seasons and told us:

“It was brilliant to get the lads to LJMU and help prepare them for Japan. I am very fortunate that I work in a sport science department that attempts to translate the science we teach to applied practice and today was a perfect example of that. This is why there is nowhere better in the UK to study sport science”.