Leicester Tigers front-rower Dan Cole believes the hard work done during the summer months helped to see England to victory in a physical outing against Wales at Twickenham.
Speaking after full-time live on England Rugby's O2 Inside Line, Cole also paid tribute to the competitive and cooperative effort of the national squad during the past two months together as they prepare for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
"It was outstanding," Cole responded when asked of his thoughts on the 33-19 win over the Welsh.
"We've been in camp for seven or eight weeks now ... sessions have been tough.
"Nothing has been mindless, everything we have done has had a purpose."
The Leicester front-rower made his 86th Test appearance in the fourteen-point win, seeing him overtake Rory Underwood as the club's most-capped English international.
Cole's Tigers team-mate Ben Youngs, who was used as a replacement in the 50th minute of the win, also joined the prop atop the Tigers tally in his 86th England outing.
Nothing has been mindless, everything we have done has had a purpose
Eddie Jones has pushed his squad to their limits during their pre-season, with the focus solely on improving fitness and physicality to ensure their ready for the tournament in Japan which begins for England on September 22 against Tonga.
Looking back on the past two months, Cole said: "It is the longest we've been together for four years ... we've had two months solid to physically prepare."
"A lot of the game is based on collisions and winning the gain line, so if you can get boys winning the gain line it is going to equal success.
"It has been really competitive at training and every one is pushing each other.
"At the same time, we're cooperating and helping each other out ... which is what we saw today.
With the full focus on physically preparing, Cole told O2 Inside Line that it was only in the week leading in to the Quilter International fixture against Wales that rugby training became a priority and keeping it simple against the reigning Six Nations champions was the focus in what the England squad knew would be a tough outing at Twickenham.
"This week is the first time we've really focused on rugby," said Cole.
"We had a fairly simple game plan but our fitness and physicality saw us through.
"We wanted to get in to the game and get on the front foot.
"Wales are a physical side, so you don't want them to have the ball and want to keep them as far away from your line as possible."
