I don’t think there’s a full-time rugby player anywhere who doesn’t enjoy a little snow break, a few extra days off and some time to relax. I would even go so far as to say that there are players who don’t mind the odd knock during a week, that, so long as they can still play on the Saturday, some horrible midweek sessions are pleasantly avoided. I am one such player and this week I have taken no risks. A stiff neck kept me out of ‘terrible Tuesday’ and the snow cancelled Wednesday. I also avoided Thursday in the snow, and put in a cardio session on the stationary bike.
That’s all very well, and I enjoyed some time to relax, but was definitely ready for team training on Friday night. I hadn’t seen these guys for about 2 weeks and hadn’t run for a while so was ready for some rugby. Amazing what a break can do for the appetite. So it was the usual story on the bus, meatloaf fighting a rearguard action against the French rappers. Training was on an Astroturf pitch which was covered in snow and there was a very childish feel to the session. Ali ‘Betsen’ turned up wearing one luminous green boot and a fluorescent orange one, waving away advice that he’ll twist an ankle... The backs were as exuberant as ever, with one drill descending into a snowball fight.
The bus back was the same, with my Reichel prop friend up to his old tricks. This skin-head who looks like a racist Polish football hooligan is actually a lovely guy, and has an extreme amount of Scotland rugby shirts. I think I’ve mentioned him before. Every time I try and discover why he has so much Scotland kit, he points to ‘The Famous Grouse’ and explains something about his father. As far as I’m concerned, he’s an alcoholic. Anyway, I was trying to find out the timings for the weekend and Victor was giving me wrong times in an effort to be funny. Naturally, I flicked him the Vs, the French finding this cultural difference absolutely hilarious. I then explained to the person next to me why I was frustrated with him, the translated version of which is, embarrassingly, “He had given me false council”. Change the ‘had’ to ‘hath’ and I’m Will Shakespeare.
This morning’s session was on a 4G surface at a place called ‘Houille’ which I cannot pronounce. “ooeeee” is close. We got through a good run through before the forwards headed off to hit the scrum machine. They always finish with the most important part of the game. This left the backs to practice our kicking, which we did for about 10 minutes before succumbing to the lure of the football goal-posts and a penalty spot. We all took turns to fire the rugby ball past a hapless ‘keeper.
These players behind the scrum manage to combine the playful arsing around of a bunch of 10 year olds with pulling off some extraordinary rugby. If my day-to-day training with the Centre de Formation can be a bit of a pressurised drag, my actual team sessions and especially the backs training are a great laugh where everyone has a say. Often left to our own devices, we come up with some sumptuous back-play. It’s a wonderful environment to be a part of. I just hope we can transport some of the fun to Clermont tomorrow as our team has a tendency to tighten up. If we can stay loose and play with some confidence then we have a good chance.
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