Captain Chris Robshaw is adamant England will not feel the effects of having three domestic teams in European final action when they head to New Zealand this summer.
Robshaw, who skippered England to second place in this year’s RBS 6 Nations, missed out on a Challenge Cup final appearance with club side Harlequins last week.
However their opposition on the night were English rivals Northampton while Bath and Wasps contested the other semi-final with the former coming out on top.
Over the course of the same weekend, Saracens ran riot against Clermont to reach the European Cup showpiece with both finals in Wales on May 23 and 24.
The Premiership final will follow the weekend after and should Northampton make it that far – as a club – they wouldn’t have had a weekend off this year.
England’s first Test against New Zealand is scheduled for June 7 in Auckland but Robshaw insists the players – and their frame of mind – is being closely monitored.
“I don’t think having three English clubs in European finals will affect the New Zealand tour fatigue-wise,” he said. “The tour is at the end of the season but I’m sure club coaches have been smart with their players have been training and tapering off training.
“I can only speak about our experience at Harlequins but the physios, nutritionists and guys from England have been coming in and speaking to us to see how we are and getting an idea of our mental state.
“At this stage of the season a lot of it is mental – your body has been through quite a bit and it’s about making sure your body has recovered fully from games and you can go out there and play to 100 per cent of your ability.
“All the guys who were away at the Six Nations have had a week off. That definitely helped and we’ve been playing a lot of Friday night games here at Quins as well. So we’ve actually had weekends off.”
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