England’s Rugby Union Guinness Premiership resumed March 26th after the completion of the 6 Nations was decided with France being crowned winners. It was with resumption in mind that Saracens RFC flew out to Portugal on the 19th March for a five day training camp at Browns Sport & Leisure Club in Vilamoura.

The “Super Sarries” came to Browns Training Centre to build on their last win against Sale Sharks after a dreadful run of 5 losses. The training centre was to provide intense uninterrupted training which would allow for greater team bonding and a chance to develop their on-field strategies.

Eddie Jones, former Australia Head Coach further confirmed this by saying:

“Whenever teams have a bad run, any number of things can help change it…..and the Portugal training camp came just at the right time.”

The overall camp training structure consisted of field activities, player tutorial sessions plus the major factor of team bonding. At Browns this factor was possible due to the unique concept of having a training camp exclusively for themselves. This allows for a tension –free camp and greater unity.

Commenting on the training completed at Browns, Head Coach Mike Ford said

“To work with the players 24-7 was excellent… and it was probably the best we have prepared all year.”

The men in Black flew back Thursday 23rd March fully prepared for their next league fixture against Worcester warriors on the 26th March which they won convincingly 29-15.

In regard to that win Mike Ford stated after the game:

“Portugal was good in terms of building team spirit…its good to know that what we worked on came to fruition.”

This convincing win moves Saracens RFC into 8th place and will now use the successful training camp as a springboard for the rest of the season and will look to improve on last year’s finish of 5th place.

The final team of Super League’s quartet arrived in the Algarve Sunday 23rd January. St Helen’s arrived in buoyant mood, looking forward to their 2nd consecutive pre-season training camp at Browns Sport & Leisure Club. They follow Wakefield, Bradford and Huddersfield in choosing Browns and Portugal in particular as an ideal destination for pre-season training due to the milder winter climate and outstanding facilities on offer.

The Saints are here in the Algarve for a week and will be looking to fine tune the fitness aspects and step up their pre-season preparation by working closely on personal skills and team tactics in time for the start of the season in mid February. They will once again be looking to fly up the league table to obtain a playoff position and also repeat last year´s brilliant victory in the Challenge Cup Final.