Rugby training with Wasps

I’ve handed over the reins of the blog today to my nephew. So here he is playing rugby – his passion in life!

I’ve played rugby since I was six and I am still playing 11 years on.  I have trained in most positions on the pitch, although I’ve always preferred playing as a back.  I have recently and hopefully finally settled at scrum half. I play for Alton R.F.C,  my local club in Hampshire.

Recently, a friend and I travelled up to Bicester  for a Wasps training camp, sponsored by Brita. It took us a while to find, as it wasn’t clearly stated which club area it was at because there is a senior’s pitch and a juniors training area a couple of miles away.  Once we found the right place, we were given a free Brita water bottle with a Wasps insulated sleeve and introduced to our coach, Kye, who had already started the training.

There was a mix of age groups, but we were the oldest at very close to 17. We started off playing a version of rugby netball to warm up and to show our skill and abilities. To challenge us and to see how we acted under more pressure he put restrictions on for example after every pass you had to sit down quickly. We developed it in to a touch rugby league game. Although instead of rolling the ball through our leg we had to pop it. This was a new concept to me and one I found useful because it has already started to help develop my support game.

The first day we worked on the key parts of rugby; passing and tackling,  it was helpful fix problems that have been caused by bad habits. Near the end of the day we went in to a game with contact, but as we were a mixed age group, we had to be careful.

The second day started in a similar way to the first, bar the getting lost part. We played rugby netball and touch again to help warm up and help work out the kinks from the previous day.

For the second day we worked on more specific skills. To start with we looked at off loading with one hand.  With skills becoming such a key part in rugby in today’s game its becoming more important that we drill these skills. It was refreshing to have the training, as we don’t do off loading drills at my local club. The afternoon we moved on to rucking.  Our coach was able to go through it slowly and help those who struggled with techniques, which was really helpful to improve our techniques.

On both days; we learnt how to improve our game via the care and maintenance of our bodies. So on the first day we looked at nutrition of a professional rugby player  and on the second day we looked at muscles and key fitness for rugby. 

The two days of coaching was really helpful. I have leant a lot and it was a lot of fun. It had a massive impact on my friend.  He has already been talking to our coach at my local club to help the team improve. He even won best player award which allows him to have another free two day training session.

I would like to say thank you to my aunt for organising the tickets and to Brita and Wasps for the training session.