Training sessions are closely guarded.

By Neal Collins

Deep in the heart of the Surrey countryside, England's preparations for their Grand Slam showdown against Ireland on Sunday are top secret, for Clive Woodward's eyes only.

And no, I'm not exaggerating.

About two miles from junction three of the M3, perhaps 30 miles south west of London, huge men were fashioning strange patterns at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot.

The rugby ground has been carved out of a hillside specifically for the men in white, who used to go to Sandhurst for these sessions.

Silently, I parked amid the trees and snuck up through the tackle bags and scrummaging machines to take a peek at Woodward's training session.

The backs were running through some elaborate passing patterns while the forwards produced a series of half-hearted rucks.

It was gentle stuff. But after five minutes, I was approached by the heavies: "This is a closed training session," they barked, "You can't watch this!"

Heads began to turn. Martin Johnson glanced over. Gulp.

Without much resistance, I scuttled off to the luxury of the hotel itself. What a place this England training base is.

Golf course, swimming pool, fitness centre, miles of rolling fields. And, under clear blue skies, it's not difficult to understand why a young man with quick hands might want to swap a career in banking for a lifetime of cauliflower ears and broken noses.

Pennyhill Park is a place of long wooden corridors, silent staff and ornamental horses. There is a sense of history and opulence about the place.

Only the very rich could spend their days here, relaxing and preparing for work. Oh to be a rugby player in the age of professionalism.

Several of the old amateurs are here, having moved in to media work - how they must wish they'd lived like this between games.

And England's current players fit in perfectly, this is their second home.

They glide through the hotel like knights of old, all shining stars with huge shoulders. Their helms are woolly hats, their armour blue England tracksuits. But they carry the same allure.

Come Sunday in Dublin they will be expected to swap the cosy, top-secret jousting for the real thing. Ireland lie ahead, unbeaten and hungry.

While England can count themselves unfortunate not to have won a Grand Slam since 1995 (only Jason Leonard of the current squad was about then), the Irish haven't done it for nearly 50 years.

Lansdowne Road is not an easy place to clinch a Grand Slam for visitors, even a team of England's current vintage.

Martin Johnson was out with a broken hand in October 2001 when Matt Dawson led the side to a third successive Grand slump.

We are about to hear how he intends to avoid that awful fate on Sunday and then go on to win the World Cup in Australia - watch this space.