By Jackie Finlan

In part one of our interview with England prop Vicki Cornborough, she explained how she and her capped counterparts navigate this busy time of year when the Women’s Six Nations and Tyrrells Premier 15s league coincide. This week, Cornborough talks about how the clubs and England coordinate for the players’ benefits.

Watch Women's Six Nations LIVE On FloRugby

3/10: England at France | 3/11: Scotland at Ireland | 3/11: Italy at Wales

Cornborough’s home club, Harlequins, is coming off of three straight weeks of fixtures, and during the Women’s Six Nations bye week, Cornborough helped her home team to an 80-7 win over Worcester. 

“Very little, as the club and England speak directly about training and playing commitments,” Cornborough said of her involvement in preseason conversations about coordinating the rugby year. “They work collaboratively to manage us as players and inform us of availability and commitments during Six Nations.

“England want us playing as much rugby as possible, so where there are no international matches, we are encouraged/expected to go back to club to play in Tyrrells Premier 15 fixtures. All training loads and game minutes are managed by [one’s] club and England. It also means the player doesn't get caught in the middle.”

The Harlequins played 11 games during the fall portion of the season and another four since the turn of the year. Mixed into the Tyrrells Premier 15s season, England played a three-game series against Canada in November and is about play round four of the Women’s Six Nations.

“Currently we are called in to train up to a week before international games. If we are not in England camp, we train with our clubs and vice versa,” said Cornborough, addressing the notion of playing conflicts. “England obviously takes precedent, but as England and clubs work hard to align, we as the players don't see much/if any conflict.”

Cornborough, along with Quins teammates such as Leanne Riley, Abbie Scott, and more have the unique benefit of playing Women’s Six Nations games at their club stadium, Twickenham Stoop.

“I love playing at the Stoop,” said Cornborough, who is poised to get her 38th cap Saturday in the all-important game against France. She helped England defeat Wales LIVE on FloRugby (now available On-Demand) at the Harlequins' home stadium on February 10. 

“To be on my home ground for club and country is special — and I feel so comfortable playing there," she continued. "The stadium and crowd are amazing — there's always a big vocal crowd which can be an awesome buzz to feed off when you're playing, especially against the Welsh.

“Other nations have a good presence at their home grounds too. I'd love for England to be at the forefront of driving crowd presence and fill stadiums for our games. Quins have put a lot of emphasis on breaking the record of female rugby game attendance for their upcoming derby game against Richmond — the Stoop will be a great setting for that!”

Catch Round 4 of the Women's Six Nations LIVE on FloRugby this weekend:

England (3-0) at France (3-0) 

Saturday, March 10, 3 PM ET — WATCH LIVE

Italy (0-3) at Wales (1-2)

Sunday, March 11, 6:45 AM ET — WATCH LIVE

Scotland (0-3) at Ireland (0-3)

Sunday, March 11, 8 AM ET — WATCH LIVE

Jackie Finlan has been covering rugby for years in the USA and around the world. She is the editor of The Rugby Breakdown.