England take no-holds-barred approach to mixed martial arts

• Defence coach Paul Gustard believes MMA techniques applicable in rugby• ‘It’s helpful to see how they manipulate the body to get out of contact’England have turned to mixed martial arts in search of techniques that will aid their quest to become rugby union’s No1 team. The Six Nations champions will open their defence against France at Twickenham on 4 February armed with insights into wrestling, ju-jitsu and judo gathered by the defence coach, Paul Gustard.Gustard has been practising with an MMA expert based near England’s Surrey training camp and believes some of the skills he has learned i…