Tough training task for rugby stars

Players have taken part in a gruelling three-day regime

Bath rugby players have been defying the record-breaking temperatures by joining the Royal Marines for a session of endurance training.

Their pre-season schedule has taken them to a Marine training camp at Lympstone in Devon.

For three days Bath's players and coaches have been subject to the gruelling regime of assault courses and sleep deprivation.

The training consists of lengthy runs and hard sessions in the gymnasium with coaches joining in.

They even went out in the dead of night for a long run.

'Pushed themselves'

Sergeant Steve Hargreaves of the Marines, said: "If we don't get our heads right on the battlefield then our physical actions won't follow correctly and that can result in the loss of life.

"If they don't get their heads right on the rugby pitch - it doesn't matter how good they are - they're not going to win games."

Bath chief coach, former Australian international, Michael Foley, said: "The effort the boys have put in has been nothing short of outstanding. They have pushed themselves all they could."

Bath only narrowly avoided relegation from the Zurich Premiership last season.