England call in marines for France and Ireland showdown pep-talk

Steve Borthwick has recruited the special forces to inspire England as they enter the most challenging phase of the Guinness Six Nations.

Jason Fox, star of the reality TV show 'SAS: Who Dares Wins', addressed Borthwick’s title hopefuls at their Brighton training camp on Wednesday ahead of their blockbuster clashes with France and Ireland.

Fox was a sergeant in the Special Boat Service having joined the Royal Marines as a 16-year-old, becoming the latest in a long list of outside speakers to perform a Q&A with the England squad.

"Some of the other boys would be good in the SAS! Probably Tom and Ben Curry, they’d be all right," prop Mako Vunipola said.

England cricketers Jonny Bairstow and Alastair Cook and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins have given talks in the past, but for Vunipola it is former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United captain Roy Keane who made the biggest impact.

"His career speaks for itself, he’s a serial winner. I’m a United supporter anyway, so when they said he was coming in I was buzzing for that," Vunipola said.

"When he spoke to us he was a great character – very funny and a great story teller. But also you can see he has an intensity to him that makes you think ‘whatever he says, I’m following him’.

"Even now I’ll go back and say, ‘do you remember when Roy came in?’ And everyone just remembers it.

"You don’t really remember the stories, but you do remember just sitting there and being glued to it, listening to every word he says."

England will need all the inspiration they can get knowing they face the game's top ranked sides on successive weekends.

France visit Twickenham on Saturday week knowing another defeat would end their title defence and seven days later Ireland lie in wait at the Aviva