We sat down with the England and Gloucester Number 8 and ask him a few questions about his training:
What’s your favourite part of S&C training for rugby?
I really enjoy all aspects of training, we’re going through a big preseason block at present and its the best time to look to make gains because you don’t have to worry about being fresh for the weekends game. In the gym we a looking to lift heavy at the moment so its good to see some big plates on the bars and on the field we’re working on increasing our capacity to operate at high intensity for repeated efforts. Its hard work but I love it because I know every week I’m getting fitter, faster and stronger.
What’s your best experience in rugby?
My Best experience has to be making my international debut against Scotland in the 2012 six nations, I only played for 10 minutes off of the bench but it is the achievement I am most proud of.
What’s the hardest training session you’ve ever done?
The hardest training session I have done is probably one of the “Gloucester Front Up Fridays” sessions. We had a day with the SAS running up the Brecon Beacons in wales, it was a scorching hot day and it was physically and mentally tough, we were split into teams and had to race up the mountain and run back! People were twisting ankles and slipping over all the way.
Which opposition player do you respect the most for their fitness/physicality?
I think Paul O’Connell is the player I respect the most, he was an “Enforcer” for munster and Ireland for years and for a big man had a great engine. To maintain such a high level for that long takes a lot of continued hard work and he would never go missing in a game.
Where do you think amateur players get it wrong when it comes to S&C for rugby?
I think a lot of amateurs will focus too much on gym based training. The way the game is going now its all about making your training game relative. How does each exercise help you to be a better player. I also think conditioning, particularly high intensity, repeated running sessions get forgotten. Rugby is an 80 minute running game after all and you need to be able to make just as an explosive effort in the 1st minute as you do in the 80th, so running fitness is a must!
What part of S&C training do you like the least?
The least enjoyable part to training has to be the first session back after off season. Everyone is always a little nervous because there is a degree of uncertainty of what we will have to do, but it is always some sort of maximal running test. It is always short, but as its maximal, its tough! This year it was 10 x 100m sprints as quickly as possible.
Who is the fittest player in your squad?
I think the fittest player in our squad at present is probably our scrum half, Willi Heinz. He has a great engine which helps because he has to get to every breakdown!
Who is the strongest player in your squad?
The strongest player has to be the “squad father”, John Afoa. He has a massive bench press, huge squat and great core control.
What’s your favourite exercise in the gym?
My favourite exercise at the moment is the Box Squat. I haven’t squatted for a few years, so its great to get back into it and we are using Gym Aware machines to measure the speed in which we move the bar on each rep, so the focus is all about explosive strength which is perfect for my game.
What music do you like to listen to while training?
I like to listen to music with a good beat when we’ve got an off feet conditioning session to do, nothing worse than a soft, slow song (like one of Jamie Bains) when you’re in pain on a watt bike! Other than that, you can’t beat a bit of Rap to train to!
