BAGSHOT (United Kingdom), Sept 22 ― Fixing a dishwasher may be an unlikely way for a professional sportsman to relax, but England wing Jonny May reckons it will help him get away from the strains and stresses of the World Cup.

England, as the host nation, are allowing their players limited time away from camp during the tournament, having opened the World Cup with a 35-11 win over Fiji at Twickenham on Friday.

Senior players will have a day off on Wednesday from their training base at the upmarket Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, south-west of London, as England coach Stuart Lancaster tries to ensure his side are in peak condition come Saturday rather than over-training earlier in the week. 

Gloucester flyer May, who has scored five tries in his 17 Tests, was glad of the break.

“I'll go back to Gloucester and walk the dog on Wednesday,” May told reporters at Pennyhill on Monday. “I'll be at home and just do normal things I think.

“My dishwasher’s broken so that needs to be sorted out,” the 25-year-old added to a chorus of laughter.

“It's nice just to do things like that all round really.

Wales, who defeated Uruguay 54-9 in Cardiff last weekend in their opening match in a 'Pool of Death' also featuring Australia, have been beset by injury problems.

Talisman North

Centre Cory Allen (hamstring) was ruled out on Wednesday after first-choice backs Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan Davies and Rhys Webb were all sidelined before the World Cup started.

But Wales still boast a couple of impressive wings in Alex Cuthbert and George North.

Turning to Cuthbert first, May said: “He is an incredible athlete. He is strong, fast and big. He has played numerous times for Wales and is a British and Irish Lion.

“He is a great opponent and I am going to have to be at my best to come up against him.”

As for North, May added: “He is a talisman for them and a world-class player. We can’t give him too much space and we need to keep an eye on him and mark him because he’s a threat.

“There is no special plan, but you can’t let guys like that have space on the ball and give him the opportunities to show what he can do.”

But May said it was important England showed what they could do in attack, although he stressed the team would need to earn the right to move the ball wide after trying to force things too much against Fiji.

“It was quite difficult out there on Friday night with it being a bit wet and greasy, and those guys flying out of the line,” he recalled.

“Maybe that’s where we went wrong a little bit ― we were trying to get it wide a bit too much.

“But when the subs came on and were direct and got over the gain-line, it opened up a little bit more for us. Playing out wide, and playing ambitiously, comes from doing the right thing.”

Meanwhile England back-row James Haskell said Wales coach Warren Gatland and assistant Shaun Edwards would have the visitors fired up on Saturday, having played under the duo at English Premiership side Wasps.

“Warren and Shaun work very well together,” Haskell said. “They have this fantastic partnership. They're very good at inspiring guys to play.

“These guys coming to Twickenham, it will almost be seen as as smash and grab...They'll relish whatever press they get about injuries this week because secretly they have such a good team, physicality, gameplan and seasoned professionals. ― AFP