INSPIRATION • September 2023

The travel habits of England Rugby

England prop Kyle Sinckler (30), centre Henry Slade (30), and flanker Sam Underhill (27) are world-class players – but are they brilliant travellers? The trio sat down with The Club during the Summer Nations Series in August to talk in-flight essentials and more

When you’re travelling with the team, is there someone that you’d rather not sit next to on the plane?

Sam Underhill: Any of the other forwards, any of the big men – we take up a lot of shoulder room!
Henry Slade: I was going to say that. Your shoulders are twice the size of any normal person. If I get to sit next to another back, then I am very lucky. That’s what you’re aiming for.

Do you have any travel essentials?

Kyle Sinckler: It has to be a neck pillow, as protecting (my neck) for the position I play is important. I also always take an extension lead as you can never have enough plugs.
SU: That’s a pro tip, Sinck! Mine’s also a pillow for the same reason. You get good ones on British Airways flights – there’s not much you want for when you travel with them!
HS: I can’t say a pillow now, can I? I’m diabetic, so I can’t go anywhere without my injection pen. I also like to have an electric diffuser for the room. We’ve used them on previous tours.

What’s your favourite way to kill time at the airport?

SU: I like to listen to podcasts. Off Menu is good – it’s the food-based one from James Acaster and Ed Gamble (below). They get a lot of good guests on that.

Are you fans of airplane food?

KS: For me, the issue is never the quality of it – it’s the quantity. As long as I can get enough of it, I am a happy man.

Is there anything you try to bring home from your travels?

SU: I collect fridge magnets. I started doing that a few years ago.
HS: I always get a bar of Milka chocolate. That’s a classic airport purchase.

How do you unwind between games?

KS: Sleep.
SU: Some of the boys like to play a bit of golf.
HS: And there’s a bit of gaming that goes on – Call of Duty, things like that.

When you’re travelling with the team, do you get much downtime to go out and explore?

KS: It depends what you’re there for. You tend to get more time off around games than at training camps. Table Mountain (above) in South Africa was really special.
SU: I got to go fishing in Perth in Australia. We did a lot of fishing and not much catching.
HS: We got to travel on the bullet train in Japan up to visit Mount Fuji. We managed to see quite a lot of the country as we were there for eight weeks.

Where have been the favourite places you’ve visited on holiday?

KS: Fiji. It’s such an unbelievably beautiful country and the people were so lovely and welcoming. It was somewhere I had always wanted to go.
SU: I enjoy being around the Med – places like Sardinia and Sicily. I like the culture, the food, the weather, the scenery.
HS: I like the Greek islands – I went to Mykonos (above) recently. And I also really enjoyed Croatia.

Finally, what’s a dream destination that you haven’t yet visited?

HS: I’ve always fancied the look of the Maldives...
SU: I’d love to go on safari.
KS: I would love to visit South America: Peru or Bolivia. My fellow England player Anthony Watson had his honeymoon in Botswana and said it was great, so that looks pretty cool. I’d maybe experience a bit of safari, too.
SU: Maybe British Airways will fly us all off on safari then!