The setting could hardly be less French but, as Scotland's preparations for the 2007 World Cup campaign begin in earnest tonight, the circumstances are close to ideal.
Globally famous for its annual event, the Henley Regatta - as quintessentially English as clotted cream and bowler hats - this douce little Oxfordshire market town was pretty as a picture as ducks waddled down the tow-path and tourists basked in warm sunshine on the banks of the Thames yesterday.
The athletes in town tonight may be of similar physique and, in many cases, from similar backgrounds to those who power the oars, but that event is some weeks away and tonight's meeting of Scotland A and the US Eagles will not be an occasion comparable with the in-crowd gathering of the first week in July.
The host club, Henley Hawks, is a thriving one, however. They finished third in English national league two this season and are very proud of hosting this Churchill Cup tie.
"There has been a lot of marketing and we have had a lot of calls from ex-pat Scots, but with the Champions League final on TV we don't think there will be many more than 1500 at the match," reported Noel Armstead, their recently elected president.
The competition is, of course, relatively low-key anyway with Scotland, England and Ireland fielding A teams while the New Zealand Maoris, something closer to the All Black thirds, are favourites to defend the title they won in North America last year when they beat the Scots in the final.
Yet all that suits Scotland coach Frank Hadden fine as he undertakes a dry run at the sort of tournament management he must deal with come the autumn's World Cup finals.
"This is a great wee competition and it gives myself, George Graham and Alan Tait the chance to practise our coaching in this sort of environment," he noted.
Since taking over as Scotland coach two years ago Hadden has recognised the need to trust players and their club coaches to work on their skills while he concentrates on tactical matters in the national camp.
However, he has also admitted to finding that absence of coaching time with players frustrating, so is very much looking forward to this summer devoted to Test rugby.
"It was partly luck rather than design that we have no summer tour this year, but we have to put that to advantage," he observed.
Hadden has also pointed out that at the World Cup his men have reason to feel slightly hard done by since they must play their three key matches in the space of just 11 days. Italy, whom they meet in what will almost certainly be a knockout match to end the pool, have 10 days off before that potential decider.
"You would have thought that as second seeds we might have got the more favourable schedule, but we just have to deal with it," said the coach.
Again that makes this tournament good practice since last year's Churchill Cup finalists have both been given the more difficult pool schedules here. Scotland and the Maoris both miss out on the first round of matches, leaving them three to play in 11 and eight days respectively.
As well as the parallel with the World Cup sequence the intensity of a short, sharp burst of activity should tell the coaches a great deal about players.
"We believe we are preparing the best ever Scottish side for a World Cup and this summer will be all about raising the levels of speed, strength and power to ensure that," Hadden explained.
"The players are excited about it because they all know they need time to work on those areas and they have it this summer.
"However, the Churchill Cup is designed for hungry players and its purpose is to give those who maybe feel they missed out at this year's Six Nations a chance to prove their point."
Having pre-selected 26 for the conditioning camp that begins on June 4 the coach will, then, be particularly gratified by the example set by Rory Lawson, who leads the side tonight. Contemplating the opportunity for those contending for places in the 30-man World Cup squad, he said: "It's great for the guys involved here who might be seen as fighting for positions to have the last bite at it before we hit the gym."
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