England’s state-of-the-art rugby training base at Pennyhill Park owes its existence to the Springboks‚ and to flyhalf Jannie de Beer in particular.

In 1999‚ De Beer kicked England out of the World Cup at the quarterfinal stage with five drop goals. That performance led to a period of intense navel gazing by coach Clive Woodward and the Rugby Football Union‚ and one of the outcomes of their review was that England needed a world-class training facility.

It took years to develop as there was resistance to it‚ but what England have now is a facility that would rival any other major sporting code in the world. It officially opened only in May last year after a reported outlay of R60m‚ but England have trained there on and off since the early 2000s.

It became the Springboks’ base last week as they prepared for Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Wales.

Located about 40km southwest of London’s city centre‚ in the leafy Surrey countryside‚ England’s base is on the grounds of the exclusive Pennyhill Park Hotel‚ which boasts luxurious rooms‚ a spa‚ as well as a Michelin two-star restaurant. It has its own nine-hole golf course and also offers clay-pigeon shooting‚ duck herding (whatever that is) and‚ believe it or not‚ tank driving.

Just a few kilometres down the road lies Wentworth Golf Club‚ one of England’s most prestigious courses and a dream for rugby players‚ who general enjoy golfing to take a break from the stresses of professional rugby.

The pitch that the Boks trained on was redone recently and is pristine. It’s a mixture of grass and synthetic material‚ exactly the same as used at Twickenham.

The gym features a wide range of new equipment and there is a 40m-square indoor playing surface‚ as well as rows of huge punch bags and a small area called a “scrum patch”. Here sits the heavy scrumming machine on an AstroTurf floor. The Boks didn’t care for that and moved the scrumming machine onto the actual pitch.

“I’ve done weights in that gym. It’s state of the art; the best rugby facility I’ve trained in‚” prop Tendai Mtawarira said.

One of the joys for players is that they each have their own rooms (players with fewer than 50 test caps usually share) and the rooms are enormous. Adriaan Strauss was beaming from ear to ear when describing his digs.

“Unfortunately for England they are not here to use the facility for the full duration of the competition‚ but that’s life and we are happy to take the facility and make full use of it‚” Bok flank Schalk Burger said.

“Some of the guys who do gym have been doing weights in the building and they say it’s an unbelievable experience.

“It’s an incredible place. The media centre is pretty much bigger than my local club back home. It’s unbelievable. The field is lovely and the weather is playing its part so far in England. The rooms in the hotel are also really nice.

“All the waiters and hotel staff seem to be South African. I have met about four — I think the English staff have gone on leave.”