Litres of milk and thousands of eggs - how the England rugby team are fuelled by farming

The Six Nations Championship kicked off this week and the England team have taken to social media to document what they eat throughout the tournament.

Head chef, Thomas Kirby, can be seen prepping in the various social videos on the England rugby account.

Eggs

He said that over 300 eggs a day are consumed by the England team, which equates to a staggering 2,000 eggs per week and over 15,000 during the whole tournament.

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Read also: Farm Fitness trains England internationals ahead of Rugby World Cup

Milk

The team drinks between 40-50 litres of milk a day in porridge, coffees and shakes, totalling over 2,500 litres throughout the whole tournament.

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England is not the only team highlighting a connection to farming. In the new Netflix documentary, Six Nations: Full Contact, Ireland prop Andrew Porter credited 'tackling sheep' as how he learnt to play rugby.

Nigel Owens

You cannot, though, talk about rugby and farming and not mention world-renowned referee, Nigel Owens. The Welsh rugby star lives on a farm in Wales, rearing his beloved Herefords. 

In an interview with Farmers Guardian's chief reporter, Rachael Brown, Nigel discussed his love for the sporting world and his rugby career, but his passion is farming.

He said: "If you had to give me the choice now, between walking out into that field among my Herefords on a lovely summer's evening or on a field in front of 85,000 people booing and shouting me, I think you would know what the answer would be.

"I enjoyed my time as a referee. It has given me opportunities over the years to save up and have this farm."