Women's Rugby World Cup: Team England invite UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall to show some tackling tips

Tom Aspinall was recently invited by the English rugby team to showcase some tackling tips in their bid to win the Rugby World Cup.

The Women's Rugby World Cup is almost at a close, with team England set to face New Zealand on their home turf in Auckland in the final on November 12 at Eden Park. England beat Canada (26-19) and New Zealand beat France (25-24) to secure their spots in the final.

According to an article by The Sportsman, team England called up No.6-ranked UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall to help them with the wrestling technique required for rugby tackles. Incidentally, team coach Shaun Wane and Aspinall's father Andy Aspinall played junior rugby league together.

Aspinall has expressed that he would like to form a rugby league team before he retires. He recently retweeted a post from 2021, when he sat down with BBC Sport and expressed his desire to compete in rugby.

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Tom Aspinall: Surging heavyweight

Tom Aspinall is a surging heavyweight prospect with a 12-3 MMA record and a promotional record of 5-1. He is one of the most well-rounded mixed martial artists in the heavyweight division, known for his speed and technical ability in all aspects of the game. He has 11 first-round finishes in 12 victories.

The English fighter has nine knockouts and three submission wins. Aspinall has not yet fought to a decision in his career.

At the age of seven, Aspinall began training in martial arts. He trained in boxing and wrestling before finding Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Aspinall won the British Open jiu-jitsu tournament in all belts except in black belt.

The Manchester native secured a first-round straight armbar finish over the No. 8-ranked Alexander Volkov at UFC London in March.

Aspinall stands at 6'5" (196 cm) and has a reach of 78 inches. He last weighed in at 251 pounds for his fight against Curtis Blaydes at July's UFC London event. He lost the fight after suffering an early knee injury, which resulted in a victory for Blaydes via doctor's stoppage.

Prior to this loss, Aspinall was undefeated in the UFC.

It is unclear as to when Tom Aspinall will make his return to the octagon, as he sustained a serious knee injury in the fight against Blaydes.

In a post published by the Daily Mail in August, Aspinall stated that he tore his MCL and meniscus, and sustained some damage to his ACL. Injuries like these take between six and eight months to recover, so it is unlikely that we will see Tom Aspinall return to fighting in the next three months.