Coming to a different environment like South Africa and bringing players from four countries together in a matter of weeks for a series of matches must be a difficult task.
Personally, I think the coaching and tactics on the tour have been first class. With players who play for different teams week in, week out it is difficult to adjust to a new way of thinking but so far the work on and off the pitch has made it easy and enjoyable. (more…)
Our final day of training for the week before departing for South Africa was last Saturday. In the gym at 7.30am for altitude training followed by weights, backs unit work and a short rugby session, all finished up by around 4pm.
Talk of the day was obviously the Leinster match at 5pm. Actually that’s a lie, the talk was more about heading to the pub to watch it!
A few beers were consumed on the Wednesday night after a tough two days training and a day off Thursday. I am a firm believer that there is no better way of bonding than enjoying a few beers in each others company and Wednesday and Saturday certainly proved that. (more…)
The first few days training have been very intense. This is to be expected as everybody is eager and wanting to impress. It is also very important for us all to get an understanding of the new players around us and the new calls for moves both in the backs and forwards.
During the build up to joining camp, all the players had to get used to training at altitude. In certain areas in South Africa we will be playing up to 2000-metres above sea level, making it difficult to get oxygen into our bodies. For two weeks before meeting up in Pennyhill Park, I had been training with the Welsh players using altitude machines. (more…)
I’m finally here. Monday the 18th of May was a date I tried not to think about too much but was always in the back of my mind. Since the announcement of the squad a number of weeks ago, the excitement everywhere has been immense!
Family and friends trying to organise flights to South Africa, telling me how many tickets they will need and maybe if they were really stuck would my roommate mind if I let them sleep on the floor!
Day one was always going to be a logistics and meetings day, but more importantly, in my mind anyway, was to find the kit room! Like every young player who makes it into any representative team the excitement of new kit is always priority number one. (more…)
