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Published 16:44 24 Feb 2021 GMT
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Alex Goode and his Saracens teammates arrive for the 2019 Premiership Final at Twickenham. [/caption]
"We stayed in this wonderful hotel, had a great dinner, good feed the night before," Goode continued.
"A great breakfast, and then it says 'Pre-Match' on the schedule, and it's down an hour after breakfast, and five hours before the match. I was thinking, 'That's a bit odd'.
"I go downstairs to see what the pre-match is about, and it was a bit of a shock. It was what I would describe as a very English pack-lunch - a white bread sandwich, a carton of orange juice and a banana.
"I went to my mate, 'Is this actually the pre-match?' I had to nip along and get some rice balls from the family mart, beforehand."
The packed lunch is a long way removed from what rugby professionals in Europe would be used to.
Goode also spoke about how the NEC Green Rockets staff couldn't find any rugby balls before their season-opener.
"I went out to do some kicking, in my warm-up, and saw all these bands and medicine balls, but no rugby balls. 'What's going on here?' I asked the coach, and he got on his phone.
"Five minutes later and I had done a warm-up so was ready to kick balls. Three more coaches come out and I'm like, 'Guys, where are the rugby balls?' There's still none. They look at each other and are probably like, 'Who is this annoying Englishman?!'"
Just as Goode was thinking it was a case of Mike Bassett: England Manager, and he'd have to do some air-kicking, the balls arrived.
"Bring your own ball next time," Sean O'Brien joked.
These pampered European players don't know they've got it made.
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