TRAINING: THE EVOLVING LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL RUGBY PLAYER

On the eve of the autumn internationals there are a few articles flying around the internet that allude to the rigorous and unforgiving training schedule that players are enduring in preparation of the challenge ahead. The Independent even went as far as stating ‘Warren Gatland puts Wales squad through hell’.

‘Hell’ might be a bit of an exaggeration but there is no denying that the demands placed on players from club to country are increasing. They are expected to have a level of fitness and strength that is borderline inhuman. However, these are professional athletes, they have chosen this path knowing that their bodies would have to be battered, bruised and inevitably broken through the machine like strength of their opposition.

Unlike American Football no pads are worn by rugby players and different to footballers (soccer) their bodies go through an intense bashing week-in-week-out.

I am not belittling other sports for not matching the physicality of rugby as other athletes have different skills that make their game great but in terms of all round strength and fitness, hardly any sport comes close to that played with the egg-shaped-ball.

Having watched countless videos on youtube of the likes of New Zealand, Ireland and Munster train and having seen the Wasps train in person a few weeks ago, it is remarkable that these players have enough energy left by the weekend to play a full 80 minutes of rugby!

Sprint after sprint – so many sprints in fact that I felt breathless just watching them. Weights are lifted that would crush the average human being if they even attempted to lift the bar off the rack. There is no wonder that most of these men have bigger necks than the average person’s thigh.

Before having to hang up my rugby boots due to injury I spent a good few years playing for my club – Carmathen Quins, my region – Scarlets and for Wales. Some sessions were harder than others but none were more difficult that the fitness sessions I partook in down in the WRU’s Centre of Excellence in the Vale. Having spent the first 30 minutes or so practicing our scrummaging we were then pushed to our limits with a high intensity fitness training that seemed to go on forever. A series of sprints with tackle bags at the end, sprints with the prowler and other exercises were repeated multiple times which left me in awe of what professional athletes endure on a regular basis. It genuinely took me a few days to recover from this session!

Talk of cryotherapy, ice baths and a few weeks in the middle nowhere in a freezing Eastern European camp is enough to make me crawl up into a ball on my bed with sympathy for these professional players’ bodies.  I thought my student house was cold, I dare not imagine the sub-zero temperatures players have to endure as part of their recovery.

The All Blacks turned to a form of bear hugging on Wednesday as a part of their training ahead of their clash against England this Saturday. No, the travelling team had not suddenly become overwhelmed with love for each other – well, not to my knowledge anyway. This was a strength exercise and a way to break the monotony of training on the end of a long season for the New Zealand internationals.

There is no denying that training can be fun for the squad but in recent years with players getting bigger, standards getting higher and more fixtures on the calendar for both club and country the intensity of training has increased dramatically. Players impose their own drinking-ban by ending their evenings with cold protein shakes rather than a beer, they have all sorts of gadgets that allow them to recover at home after a game and even while on the pitch each player is monitored through a  GPS system attached to them that records the amount of minutes they were active for and how many miles they covered throughout their time on the pitch. There is no longer a place for players to hide.

Whereas once players would prepare for a game with a pint and a big hearty meal the night before a la the 1970s,  in the age of sponsorship, financial pressures and high expectations players are put through their paces and pushed to their absolute limit in order to improve and become the best at what they do.

In some ways I envy their determination but in other ways, actually in most ways, I do not envy them at all. Actually, I think I might go and have a lie down!