Kate spared from family ribbing by her rugby prowess, Mike Tindall says

Mike Tindall has joked how he wanted the Duchess of Cambridge to mess up when she took to the rugby pitch so he could tease her on the family WhatsApp group.

Kate showed off her skills and was lifted in a lineout at Twickenham last week after becoming patron of the Rugby Football Union (RFU).

Former England rugby star Tindall, who is married to the Duke of Cambridge’s cousin Zara Tindall, said on his The Good, The Bad And The Rugby podcast how Kate looked effortless as she joined a session with England players including Leicester Tigers prop Ellis Genge.

He admitted: “I text Ellis and said ‘mate, please tell me anything she messed up on’ so I could sort of, family WhatsApp group, get into her.

“And he said ‘No she was actually pretty good, and she was really good at kicking’ and I was like…”

Tindall proceeded to give a large sigh.

He added: “But she has this competitive nature where she has to be good at things.”

His co-presenter Alex Payne agreed, saying: “She looked unbelievably natural.”

Tindall added: “Just imagine, anyone who’s ever tried it, getting thrown up in the line-out if you’ve never done it before is not easy because normally, you’ll kick the prop in either the nuts or the face as he’s lifting you and she just looked effortless.”

The ex-player joked: “The best thing is when it rolls to England and Wales, we get the battle of the Cambridges.”

Kate’s new affiliation with England rugby puts her in direct competition with husband the Duke of Cambridge, who is the Welsh Rugby Union’s patron.

William and Kate, already known for their rivalry on sporting engagements, are expected to attend some England and Wales games during the Six Nations tournament.