Kate Middleton looked ‘effortless’ during her England Rugby training session, Mike Tindall has said – as he spoke about the Duchess of Cambridge’s ‘competitive nature where she has to be good at things’.
The royal mother-of-three, 40, joined England players last week for drills at Twickenham, hours after she was confirmed as the patron of England Rugby after taking over the role from Prince Harry.
Mike, 43, who is married to Prince William’s cousin Zara Tindall, 40, commented on the Duchess’ visit on his rugby podcast The Good, the Bad, and the Rugby, which he presents alongside former teammate James Haskell and TV presenter Alex Payne.
Kate Middleton (pictured) looked ‘effortless’ during her England Rugby training session, Mike Tindall has said – as he spoke about the Duchess of Cambridge’s ‘competitive nature where she has to be good at things’
The royal mother-of-three (pictured right), 40, joined England players last week for drills at Twickenham, hours after she was confirmed as the patron of England Rugby after taking over the role from Prince Harry. Pictured left, Mike
He said: ‘‘I text [England player] Ellis [Genge] and said, “Mate, please tell me anything she messed up on” so I could sort of… family WhatsApp group, get to her, and he said, “No she was actually pretty good, and she was really good at kicking,” and I was like [sighs].
‘But she has this competitive nature where she has to be good at things,’ he added, before his co-presenter Alex agreed: ‘She looked unbelievably natural.’
James said: ‘When she was announced, I thought amazing because we know she obviously likes her rugby.
‘But the way she caught the ball, the way she jumped in the line-out, the little outside break, she was utterly fantastic, she was really, really, really good. And so I was like amazing, and dual sport, what an amazing ambassador.’
Mike 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 Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Countess of Wessex, and Zara and Mike Tindall taking part in ‘Royal Carols – Together At Christmas’, a Christmas carol concert hosted by the duchess at Westminster Abbey in London, which was broadcast on Christmas Eve on ITV
Mike Tindall with Zara Tindall, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at Royal Ascot on 18 June 2019
The former Rugby player went on to joke: ‘The best thing is when it rolls to England and Wales, we get the battle of the Cambridges.’
The Duchess was appointed patron of the Rugby Football League and the Rugby Football Union by the Queen in the first move to reassign the royal patronages that were stripped from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following Megxit.
Commenting on the news, Kate said she is ‘thrilled’ to be supporting ‘two fantastic organisations’.
Competitive Kate looked delighted to be stepping into her brother-in-law’s shoes and giggled, laughed and smiled her way through last week’s drills, led by head coach Eddie Jones.
Keeping up with Kate! The Duchess of Cambridge looked full of energy as she joined players for the Twickenham training session, hours after she was announced as Prince Harry’s replacement as patron of England Rugby. Rugby fan Harry loved his responsibilities. Pictured right, at an England Rugby training session in October 2013.
Ready for kick off! Giving her cousin-in-law Mike Tindall a run for his money, Kate showed she’s a hands on patron as she kicked the ball
Learning from the pros: The Duchess of Cambridge chatted to the England Rugby team ahead of the training session last week
Wearing her hair swept back into a high ponytail, the mother-of-three – wearing official England Rugby £50 pants and £50 zip-up top was – in her element as she tore across the pitch, joined in a scrum and even scored a try.
The Duchess, known for her love of sport, flashed a smile as she ran towards the try line and threw her arms up in celebration.
Proving she’s not afraid of getting stuck in, Kate put her arms around England players Jamie George and Ellis Genge in a mock scrum and was lifted into the air in a line-out, prompting a fit of giggles. She also took part in simple throwing and catching exercises and tried a drop kick.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Mike shared a touching collage which captures the Queen throughout her 70-year reign to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
The former British rugby player took to Instagram to celebrate the monarch’s milestone by posting a picture illustrating the Queen in each decade of her reign, from 1952 to 2022, with the caption: ‘What a lady’.
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