fit

Joining Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2023 on a free transfer from Wolfsburg, the then 24-year-old Marmoush found form in his first season with the German side scoring 17 times across all competitions.

He then scored 15 Bundesliga goals from 8.9 expected goals (xG) during the first half of 2024-25, while registering nine assists in 17 league appearances. Across all competitions before leaving Germany, he had 20 goals and 13 assists in 26 games.

Set-pieces were another notable part of his game. Marmoush became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues since Lionel Messi in 2019 to score directly from a free-kick in three consecutive competitive matches. Manchester City then paid £59m for him in January 2025.

The early signs were encouraging. Marmoush scored his first career hat-trick against Newcastle, struck the winner in City’s FA Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth and then scored from long range against the same opponents in the Premier League. It was judged to be the goal of the season.

But there were difficult moments too.

With City trailing Crystal Palace in the 2025 FA Cup final, Erling Haaland handed Marmoush the ball for a penalty. His effort was saved by Dean Henderson as City went on to lose at Wembley.

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha does not believe that moment should define Marmoush’s spell at the club.

“When I see Marmoush, I don’t see the penalty miss,” Onuoha told BBC Sport. “I see the strength he has with some of the runs he makes in behind.”

If you want to keep holiday costs low, ditching the hold luggage is a good place to start – and I believe I’ve found the perfect bag for still allowing you to overpack to your heart’s content.

If you’re someone who likes to go on multiple holidays a year, you’ll know that it’s not possible to travel in luxury every time. And by luxury, I mean being able to take a 23kg hold suitcase on board with you.

It’s the same situation every time – you find cheap flights and an affordable place to stay, then by the time you’ve priced the luggage, you’re looking at an extra hundred pounds or even more. And when you factor in how much you’re going to spend on food, travel and other expenses when you’re actually on holiday, it’s just not worth it.

Most airlines allow you to take one small bag on board for free, but as an overpacker who likes to have options, I didn’t think this would ever be enough – until I tried out one specific cabin bag that’s genuinely like magic when it comes to fitting things in.

I purchased the Narwey Ryanair Cabin Bag from Amazon three years ago now and it’s safe to say it’s become my absolute travel staple. It’s been on every holiday and every night away with me, and no matter who I go with, they’re always in disbelief at how much you can cram in there.

On a recent trip to Stockholm with Norwegian Air – whose hand luggage restrictions are the same as Ryanair 30 x 40 x 20cm – I knew it was a small-bag-only situation. I’d heard horror stories about how expensive the capital city of Sweden was, so I was not keen to spend any more than absolutely necessary on travel.

We were going away for four full days, and although I’ve taken this bag on many a trip before, I always feel slightly concerned that this is the one that’s going to push it over the edge and break the zip. But it’s remained sturdy once again, even when packed to the brim.

The more you fit in the bag, the more it seems to expand, even though it looks tiny to begin with. Even when you’re coming home from your holiday, when it always feels like your belongings have expanded tenfold, packing everything up again is a breeze.

For this trip, here’s a list of everything I managed to fit in the bag, and I even had a little bit of space left over.

• Five skirts
• Five tops
• Denim jacket
• Pair of shoes
• Socks
• Underwear
• Pyjamas
• Handbag
• Toiletries
• Makeup
• Hairdryer
• Camera

Some may say this is excessive for three nights, but when you can fit this much in, why wouldn’t you? My only issue is that the handles are a bit tough on your hands if you’re carrying it for a while, and I feel like it would really benefit from having a longer padded strap so that you could put it over your shoulder.

I’d also say it’s probably unsuitable for longer winter trips, since these clothes tend to be a lot bigger and bulkier, so you’re not going to be able to fit as much as you would in summer.

Having said that, it’s easy to transport and place in the overhead lockers, unlike wheelie suitcases which can be a bit of a faff. It’s got a sturdy double zipper, as well as a handy zipped pocket on the side, which is ideal for storing your passport and other important things you need that you don’t want stuffed in the bag itself.

My top tip for packing this bag is to stretch out the bottom as much as possible by placing my toiletry and makeup bags on either side, as this creates a good solid base and really opens it up. This would also work with shoes or your most sturdiest items of clothing.

The longest I’ve ever been away with this bag was about six days, which I’d say is probably the limit for how much it can hold in terms of clothes. But for a long weekend, it’s just perfect.

It’s currently on sale for £11.99 on Amazon. Alternatively, if you prefer a rucksack, this Cabin Max underseat bag from ASOS is also on sale for £16.95.

Or if you’re in the market for something a bit more high-end, the Rains Small Hilo Weekend Bag also fits the Ryanair and easyJet bag restrictions, and costs £69.

Tobias Farris could hardly believe his eyes.

As Farris and others trying out for the Los Angeles High football team huffed and puffed through conditioning drills in preparation for the 1996 season, Coach John Watson barked encouragement while matching his players push-up for push-up, sit-up for sit-up and sprint for sprint.

“I was shocked,” said Farris, now a senior defensive end. “I was like, ‘How old is this guy?’ ”

Watson, the dean of Los Angeles City Section football coaches, will be 57 in December. But the only hint of age is some slight graying at the temples.

In his 25th season at L.A. High, the district’s oldest high school, Watson is a fitness fanatic. He is also a dinosaur of sorts: a City Section coach who has spent his entire career at one inner-city school.

“It’s almost unbelievable,” said Peter Duffy, in his second season as coach at Fremont. “To coach in the inner-city, at one school, for that long, takes a special person.”

By all accounts, Watson is one.

Never mind that his teams have not won a City championship and have played in only one final.

Watson, L.A. High’s dean of students, has endured through five school administrations and the changing demographics of the Pico-Union area that make fielding a team a yearly challenge. While many of his colleagues are designing complicated offensive and defensive schemes, much of Watson’s time is spent teaching the most elementary principles of the game.

“I still really love to work with the kids and I’m as enthusiastic as I was 20 years ago,” said Watson, who has coached the Romans to five league titles since succeeding Ollie Matson in 1973. “I’ve been offered opportunities at other schools, but why would I want to go anywhere else? I get to know the players here and really like them. It’s more than just coaching some guys. Our teams are close.”

They also are small in numbers.

This year’s squad has only 26 players. The Romans are 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Coastal Conference going into Friday’s regular-season finale against unbeaten Westchester, The Times top-ranked team in the section.

“John has the right temperament because L.A. High is certainly not the Nebraska of high school football,” said Palisades Coach Ron Price, who has coached at various schools in the district for 30 years. “It’s hard to put kids on the field sometimes, but L.A. is always competitive. He has some good athletes and he gets the most out of them.”

Larry Brown, the 1996 Super Bowl most valuable player for the Dallas Cowboys, played for Watson. So did several other talented skill-position players who have gone on to four-year colleges.

But Watson’s trademark is taking inexperienced players and turning them into one of the most competitive–and fittest–teams in the City.

“With small numbers, you have to play a lot of kids both ways, and John makes sure those kids can do it physically for four quarters,” Manual Arts Coach Glenn Bell said. “The thing is, he’s probably in better shape than any of his players.”

Watson’s personal training regimen began as a reaction to his own first experience as a high school football player in Arkansas.

“When I was in 10th grade, my coach made us put on full gear and run 20 laps around the track–and it must have 90 degrees in that humidity,” said Watson, who played at Texas College and later in the Continental Football League. “I said to myself, ‘I will never let a coach get me in shape again.’ I’ve been working out on my own every day since.”

Watson does 700 to 1,000 push-ups and sit-ups daily and has run the stadium steps on campus almost every school day since he was hired as a teacher at L.A. High 28 years ago. He plays full-court, three-on-three basketball with students and regularly challenges his football players and assistants to passing contests.

Until this year, Watson was out the door of his Carson home every morning at 4 for a six-mile run.

“I did that for 20 years, but my wife finally stopped me,” Watson said. “I guess she’s right. A man almost 60 years old doesn’t have to run in the morning and afternoon.”

Watson’s example inspires his players.

“If he can do the push-ups and all the work, then we should be able to do it too,” Farris said. “We have a lot of rag-tag guys, but he puts them out there and we win. He’s got to be a good coach to do that.”

The Romans have been led this season by quarterback-defensive back Terrence Brown, the son of Tony Brown, a lineman for Watson’s league championship teams in 1974 and ’75. Farris, fullback-linebacker Chris Rogers and wide receiver-cornerback Chris Elize also have performed well for the Romans.

But Watson has no illusions about Friday’s game against Westchester.

“I’m realistic,” Watson said. “I tell them they’re a better team than we are. But we’re going to play as hard as we can. If we do that we’re going to be better ballplayers when the game is over. We might not beat Westchester, but the experience is going to improve us for when we play someone else in the playoffs.”

After 25 seasons, he has no plans to stop coaching any time soon. As long as there are kids who want to play football, Watson will be there to teach them.

“I’ve lasted this long because I’ve been able to make adjustments to whatever I have to work with,” he said. “You have to be flexible enough to change with the times or you should get out. It’s that simple.”

While every World Cup introduces viewers to new young stars, this tournament featured eight players who were older than 40 — one more than the number of over-40 players in the previous 22 World Cups combined.

Among them were Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, and Mexico’s Memo Ochoa, 40, who were playing in their sixth World Cups alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi, a relative youngster at 39. No one has played in more men’s World Cups.

But while Ronaldo and Ochoa have gone home, Messi will be playing in his third semifinal in four tournaments Wednesday when Argentina, the reigning champion, faces England at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The newfound longevity of elite soccer players has been made possible by advances in sports medicine, diet and analytics that measure everything from biomechanics and heart rate to muscular output and sleep cycles, all in real time. And injuries that once ended careers can now be repaired through outpatient procedures.

Argentina star Lionel Messi holds his jersey up and celebrates with teammates after a World Cup quarterfinal win over Switzerland on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

(David Ramos / Getty Images)

“Over the past 10, 20 years, the sports science within the game has changed a lot,” said Liam Anderson, an exercise physiologist at the University of Birmingham in England, who has worked as an applied practitioner in top-flight professional soccer for more than a decade.

“Players are now definitely more aware of their bodies and I think the professionalism has changed quite a lot as well. But they’re also in tune with the things which are helping them recover, manage their training load and ultimately stay fitter and healthier for longer.”

Gone are the days when chain-smoking Dutch legend Johan Cruyff would light up a cigarette on the bench, French world champion Zinedine Zidane would smoke in the locker room and George Best would party and drink so hard he would disappear for days at a time.

“There’s a couple of reasons,” Dr. Michael Joyner, a specialist in the physiology of elite athletes at the Mayo Clinic, said of the growing lifespan of soccer players. “The first is that people just make a lot more money and as a result, there’s tremendous incentive to keep playing. The second is people are taking much better care of themselves.”

“You just don’t hear about people like George Best anymore,” said Joyner, speaking for himself and not the clinic where he works.

“Diet is huge,” Anderson added. “High-protein diets and fueling with carbohydrates for matches. Nutritional strategies have changed considerably in the last 10-15 years.”

And those diets are tailored by position since a midfielder, who may run more than seven miles in a match, burns more calories than a goalkeeper.

As the eldest player in Major League Soccer, Diego Chara has had to make some concessions to age.

“It’s a little detailed,” said Chara, a midfielder with the Portland Timbers. “Talking about recovery time, it maybe takes a little bit longer than before. Nutrition. Working in the gym, it’ll be longer than other players.”

But if Chara, 40, is an old man in a league where the average age is younger than 26, he would have been something of whippersnapper in this summer’s World Cup.

The Portland Timbers’ Diego Chará passes the ball under pressure from the Columbus Crew’s Wessam Abou Ali on Feb. 21in Portland, Ore.

(Amanda Loman / Associated Press)

Soccer isn’t the only sport in which 40 is the new 30.

Serena Williams returned to Wimbledon this summer at age 44 and at least half a dozen athletes 40 and older showed up at the Milan-Cortina Olympics last February hoping to medal. Four of them succeeded, including American Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, who became the oldest athlete to win an individual gold in Winter Olympics history in the women’s monobob.

It isn’t unheard of for athletes to be golden in their golden years. Ted Williams hit .316 at 41 and Gordie Howe played 80 games and had 41 points in his final NHL season at 52. Nolan Ryan threw a no-hitter and pitched 173 innings at 44 while Tom Brady quarterbacked the Tampa Bay Bucs to a Super Bowl title at 43.

But if those age-defying performances were outliers, playing into your mid-40s and even early 50s may soon become, if not common, at least less unusual.

“People are just staying in better shape, taking care of themselves,” Joyner said. “Career-changing or career-ending injuries are no longer career-ending injuries. It just goes on and on, all of this stuff combined.”

American Serena Williams, 44, serves against Australian Maya Joint during a match at Wimbledon on June 30.

(Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)

State-of-the-art training centers and access to top-line sports medicine have also become more accessible, even in poor countries.

“The elite level has spread and really become global, as opposed to where there used to be pockets,” Joyner said. “The opportunities to compete are so great.”

Few team sports are as physically demanding as soccer, though, which makes both the growing number of seasoned citizens and their performances noteworthy. Messi has averaged nearly a game a week for club and country during the past 23 years, yet he entered the semifinals of this tournament tied for the scoring lead with France’s Kylian Mbappé, who is 12 years younger.

Ronaldo has played even more games yet he became the oldest player to score in a World Cup knockout game when his penalty kick helped eliminate Croatia and midfielder Luka Modric, who will be 41 in less than two months.

“They’ve probably lost a little bit off the top, but their experience and their mind make up for that,” said Scott Trappe, a professor of human bioenergetics at Ball State. “So the overall package of them as a sports person is really they’re contributing at a high level. I think we’re going to continue to see this movement.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring a World Cup group stage goal against Uzbekistan on June 23 in Houston.

(Charlotte Wilson / Getty Images)

“They like playing the sport and as long as they can and contribute and they make these teams, they’re going to do it. I don’t see the trend going away.”

And that will not only change the way we think of sports and athletes, it will completely rewrite the record book. Messi, for instance, entered the semifinals of this World Cup as the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 21 goals. But that was just one ahead of Mbappé, who could appear in another three or four World Cups.

“No question,” Trappe said. “You look what’s going on in pro cycling. We’ve got some guys in their upper 30s competing in the Tour de France, but we also have a teenager competing. So this lifespan, what used to be a five- to eight-year period for cycling at the at the highest levels is turning out to be, you know, double or triple that.”

Both Messi and Ronaldo have benefited from how they play as well, walking rather running for long stretches of the game to conserve energy for the burst they need to lose a defender. It’s a strategy Mbappé, Norway’s Erling Haaland and other young players have adopted and if they do that over enough games, the wear and tear it saves could add years to the end of their careers.

“We are expanding. The age will start moving up a little bit further up and players’ careers will definitely be longer,” Anderson said. “The sort of normal distribution of playing age will begin to move forward and that experience within the squad will be key.’

Argentina’s Lionel Messi dribbles the ball during the World Cup quarterfinal match against Switzerland on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

(Charlie Riedel / Ap Photo/charlie Riedel)

Consider Wednesday’s semifinalists. In its quarterfinal win, Argentina used six players older than 32 and two — Messi and defender Nicolas Otamendi — who are over 38. The spine of England’s team runs from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford through defender John Stones to striker Harry Kane, who are all 32.

“We’re coming up with new ways on how to improve and maximizing potential,” Anderson said. “God gave us what we are and it’s maximizing that, not necessarily changing that.”

That knowledge won’t stay in the stadiums and locker rooms for long, expanding to others who choose to adopt the same wellness discipline as professional athletes.

“It cycles down,” Trappe said. “We’re studying that in the lab at a pretty high level. This sort of healthy lifestyle in terms of functionality and extending into our later years and having a higher quality life, there’s data starting to emerge there.

“These types of things are going to trickle into that for sure.”

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, it features clever engineering secrets to keep drivers safe

When we consider enormous infrastructure projects, we typically picture major superpower economies like China and America, which are home to some of the planet’s largest factories, tallest skyscrapers, and sprawling cities. Yet, when it comes to bridges, it isn’t China or America that holds the crown. Rather, France claims the title of the world’s tallest bridge.

The Millau Bridge, located in the Aveyron district, forms part of the motorway linking Paris to the Mediterranean. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, it opened in the early-2000s to widespread acclaim.

Standing at 1,104ft high, it remains the world’s undisputed tallest bridge with a roadway positioned so high that a skyscraper could fit beneath it.

Beyond building and bridge comparisons, there is more to the Millau Bridge than initially apparent. According to Enjoy Travel, it features several design secrets to ensure driver safety, reports the Express.

One of these is the fact that the bridge is neither straight nor flat, with a 3% incline and a gentle curve incorporated into its design.

Enjoy Travel explained: “It has two lanes in each direction and interestingly, the bridge is not straight as this could induce a sensation of floating for drivers.

“To remedy this, the architects designed the bridge to have a slight curve, which is 20km in range. Another design feature that improves safety, is the road’s slight incline of 3%, which improves visibility and reassures the driver.

“The bridge is exposed to high winds of up to 151km/h. So, the designers placed side screens on the bridge that reduce the effects of the wind by 50%.”

Thanks to its striking design, the bridge has become an essential destination for motoring enthusiasts and tourists from across the globe.

On TripAdvisor, numerous visitors have marvelled at the bridge’s construction and appearance. Simon N said: “An amazing piece of engineering and architecture spanning an even more beautiful gorge. If you’re an engineering/architecture enthusiast, this is a must-see, but you don’t have to be one to be blown away by this marvel of a bridge.”

Bluebellplasnewydd added: “This bridge is spectacular and you should plan your car journey to go over it. There are observation posts and a visitor centre but it doesn’t matter if you miss these. The experience is in the approach and transit across.”

Fellow user boruthedog exclaimed: “It is a beautiful and extraordinary piece of engineering, and the visitors centre (accessible also from the south) has an exhibition, a good cafeteria and a viewing platform from which you can get an idea of the enormity of the project. After this, get back in the car and drive over it.

“The bridge is cleverly curved so that you get a good feel for its length and can clearly see its pylons and supporting cables.”

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has been passed fit to return from injury for Thursday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa.

Sciver-Brunt, 33, who has not played since England’s second match of the tournament against Ireland after a recurrence of her calf issue, batted in the nets again on Wednesday morning.

She also trained on Tuesday at Lord’s and England have deemed her fit enough to return as her side attempts to win a World Cup for the first time since 2017.

“We are confident I am fully fit,” Sciver-Brunt told BBC Test Match Special.

Sciver-Brunt, who has used rare magnetic resonance therapy to help regain her fitness, is likely to replace Sophia Dunkley in England’s XI.

Batter Dunkley was seen in conversation with coach Charlotte Edwards shortly before Sciver-Brunt emerged to speak to the media.

While Sciver-Brunt batted for half an hour on Wednesday, appearing relatively free and able to come down the pitch to spinners, there are obvious risks involved.

She worked with England’s physio indoors at the start of the session but did not do any running or fielding drills outdoors.

There are less than 72 hours before Sunday’s final.

“We have tested it enough to be comfortable,” she said. “What will happen out on the pitch will happen.”

Assuming she comes through, Sciver-Brunt’s presence for the latter stages is a significant boost to England.

She is their best batter and, though Charlie Dean has stood up successfully in her absence, their captain. Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge are the only players remaining from their last World Cup win.

England have lost their last two World Cup semi-finals against South Africa – at last year’s 50-over World Cup and the T20 version in 2023 – but go into Thursday’s match at The Oval as favourites, having progressed through the group stage unbeaten. They have also never lost a women’s international at The Oval.

South Africa have been unconvincing at times through this tournament but have reached the past three World Cup finals across formats as they chase their first World Cup win.

And captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted her batting line-up – blessed with powerful strokemakers such as Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Marizanne Kapp and Wolvaardt – has not been at “100%” and it has been “frustrating” they were not able to win games more comfortably.

“We have chatted about it, that if we do find ourselves in a position to kill the game earlier we are blessed with a lot of power in our line-up,” she said.

“We have that opportunity to go a bit earlier. Maybe tomorrow at The Oval suits us a bit better.”

Wolvaardt also swerved a question on whether she would be happy for Sciver-Brunt to have a substitute fielder, should the England captain injure her calf again.

Cricket’s laws state substitutes are allowed to replace players who suffer an injury during a match, rather than an issue carried in.

“As a captain it is always hard to plan for her,” Wolvaardt added.

“She is a world-class batter and is able to hit really weird areas.

“Setting a field is quite hard for her. Hopefully we are able to keep her quiet.”

Sciver-Brunt first injured her calf on 29 April, suffering what was then described by England as a “minor” tear when playing in domestic cricket.

She subsequently sat out series against New Zealand and India at the start of the international summer before returning for England’s World Cup warm-up matches.

The England captain came through warm-ups against Australia and India and the first match of the World Cup against Sri Lanka but reported ‘tightness’ in a win over Ireland 10 days ago.

She has not played since and England will either play their semi-final on Tuesday or Thursday next week, depending on other results.

“The one thing you need is time,” Worth said.

“You need time to allow the muscle to repair and then strengthen in the right way. Those timelines are tight, particularly given a history of previous injuries in the same area, but not impossible.”

Calf injuries are a regular issue for cricketers. England’s leading wicket-taker James Anderson had calf problems in the latter part of his career.

Worth said this is because of issues specific to cricket, like batters having to sprint from a standing start or bowlers slamming their front foot into the crease in their delivery stride, and the make-up of the muscle.

“You have two different types of tissue that come together,” he said. “You have your calf which is the upper bit and then the Achilles tendon.

“Wherever there are two types of tissue in terms of composition, that is often where there is a weak point.

“Things like taking a run, going from 0 to 100mph, are really difficult to replicate in rehabilitation.

“You have the immediate calming down on inflammation but tendons like load and need to strengthen.

“It is very difficult to get the balance between working the muscle enough and not pushing it too far.

“Quite often calf injuries are tricky because you feel like you have done the work and you put them back onto the field in a match situation and something goes again.”

GREG James has revealed the heartbreaking reason he’s been missing from his Radio 1 show for two days saying he’s “in no fit state” to be on air. 

The 40-year-old was absent from his Radio 1 Breakfast show on Wednesday and also missed Thursday’s edition. 

Greg took to social media to tell fans he’s been supporting his family while his father Alan Milward undergoes heart surgery. 

Writing on Instagram, the presenter said: “Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all). 

“But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features. 

“All being well, back on tomorrow morning.”

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However Greg later revealed Alan’s surgery took “much longer” than they’d expected so he would be taking another day off. 

He said: “What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU. 

“Surgery was much longer than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad. 

“Real talk, surgery went ok but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday. 

“Plus, I’m in no fit state to be on the radio. I mean, look at me, I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs. Thank you for your lovely messages.”

In March Greg had to cancel his show and rush home after Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He later opened up about his dad’s struggles during his 1,000km tandem bike ride for Red Nose Day.

Undertaking the mammoth task just a week after Alan’s stroke, Greg got emotional talking about the man he calls “Big Al”.

He said: “I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much.

“Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.”

Packer had initially considered retiring at the end of this season, although she had not shared these thoughts with others.

She said a conversation with England head coach John Mitchell, where he “posed a good couple of questions to me”, helped her refocus.

And with no contract on the table at Saracens, Packer had to act.

“I’m more of a proactive instead of a reactive kind of person,” she said.

“Now I’ve got [son] Oliver and a mortgage, so I got in touch with Harlequins just to see if the door was open.”

Before Quins head coach Ross Chisholm had met with Packer, he attended the Red Roses’ training and was impressed with the former England skipper’s attitude and impact on the group.

“We just had quite an open conversation,” Packer added.

“He said, ‘I really loved how you trained with the Red Roses [and] actually seeing you in training, you’re someone that would be a really good fit for Harlequins’.”

With Packer impressing for England in the Six Nations, picking up player of the match awards against Wales and Italy, she knew that, once the tournament concluded, she had to “make some life choices”.

As she returned to Saracens, it was made clear by head coach Alex Austerberry that there was still no new deal for her, so she decided it was time to move on.

And with her partner, fellow England World Cup winner Rosie Galligan, pregnant, and their son Oliver settled at a nearby school, there seemed one obvious option.

“The fact that Harlequins was only 20 minutes down the road, the fit just seemed to be perfect,” she said.