Introduction

"Clock's ticking, clock's ticking . one minute to go . we must score now to win this game and get in the final . I'm tired, legs and lungs burning . 10 meters from their line, clock's ticking . lungs burning . 7th frame of play . legs burning . been tired all week . pick and go . YES!.. Legs burning . our prop is through, off-load . lungs burning, time's ticking . scrum half through . legs burning . I'm inside, I must get the pass . slow, too slow, can't make it in support. I'm late . lungs burning, clock's ticking . knock on! Referee whistles . scrum . opposition clears, it's all over . "

We simply hope this doesn't sound too familiar to you as a player or a coach, but it has honestly happened to all of us. "What went wrong?" The answer can be simple or quite complex, and one of the purposes of this book is to help players and coaches identify and develop the step-by-step methodology needed to optimize overcoming fatigue, and produce individually and collectively, the best rugby performance possible according to the level and objectives of the team.

As most other team sports, rugby is a sport of technical finesse, tactical boldness, and refined and complex physical development. From the 1990's, the game of rugby has evolved so abundantly that the comprehension of all aspects of the game, from technical/tactical and psychological to the science and methodology of training, is undeniably more challenging for the coach and players than ever. And yet, the higher your knowledge of the complexity of the game, the higher the chance is to produce top players and elite level teams.

Over the years, many rugby coaches and players have followed a different school of thought. To increase the chances of winning, some coaches have relied on technical/tactical refinement with exciting offensive play or more recently, with hermetic defense systems. Other coaches, however, have stressed physical training to overcome eventual technical/tactical shortcomings, with the belief that stronger conditioning will give them a chance to rollover the opposition, particularly in the last part of the game, and increase the probability of winning.

If, however, you are looking for perfection and winning the championship in your league, none of the above models will satisfy your coaching ideals. Perfection is an abstract term, very difficult to achieve. However, to improve the probability of winning you must look for perfection in every aspect of the game: technical, tactical, physical, and psychological. Furthermore, there are other elements of athleticism of equal importance for the final outcome of the game, such as an athletic lifestyle, rest and recovery, social environment and nutrition and supplements. To strive for perfection in your game you need to take each of these elements separately and try to perfect them. Game perfection can be accomplished only when every component can be chiseled into the ideal form. This is the only way to elite athleticism!

There are several books on the market discussing either a specific topic, or all the elements of the game. In our case, however, we'll address only one, but a crucial element of the game: physical conditioning. Why only physical conditioning? Because it is very complex in nature and a large body of information needed to be discussed in detail. Physical training represents the foundation of all other elements of the game. To improve your chances of winning you must be properly trained; winning comes naturally only to well-trained teams! Therefore, we'll discuss in detail all the elements of conditioning and show you the road you need to travel in order to train your players to reach the highest level of physical competency ever.

Why conditioning? Why is it so important for rugby?

The main scope of conditioning training is to overcome fatigue! You'll do well if you'll consider fatigue as Enemy #1. Let's try to analyze how fatigue affects the ability of a player to play effectively:

• Fatigue affects technical and tactical proficiency. Most technical mistakes are made when a player's concentration is affected by fatigue, which is more acute during the last part of the game. Consequently, considering a training program that enhances player ability to tolerate fatigue would be of most importance. This is why we like to say that "The winner of a game is often the team who fatigues last!" Expose the team to a better strength and conditioning program and you'll see a different group of players, a team where skill proficiency and consistency is extensive not only at the beginning, but more importantly, at the end of the game.
• Fatigue affects the accuracy of passing and kicking. Passing and kicking (i.e. tactical kicking or penalty kicking) inaccuracy is the result of a high level of fatigue, which is the outcome of a poorly conditioned team. A player with a fatigued central nervous system (CNS) cannot concentrate on performing accurate, well-directed and precise passes. Consistent skill performance increases only when a player's conditioning potential increases. Don't expect miracles! Miracles in rugby happen only to the best trained team!
• Fatigue affects tactical judgment. As players fatigue they will have a tough time "reading" the game in order to quickly and correctly react to specific game situations. This is also true in offensive play when players are attempting to create scoring opportunities.
• A highly fatigued player is more prone to injuries. Exhausted players tend to have diminished body control, lower concentration and inability to control and coordinate the body's actions, especially the lower limbs. As such, this peculiar scenario of poor body and limb coordination may result in injury.
• A player's motivation is higher when he/she is well-trained physically. The vast majority of players are highly motivated for a game. Traditionally, rugby players are fighters, a highly determined type of athlete. Therefore, an ineffective play in the second part of the game should not give you grounds to conclude that the players have demonstrated a lack of motivation! The contrary is true. Players are well-motivated but have been exposed to substandard physical training. Poorly developed motor abilities can never represent a strong physical support for an effective technical and tactical game. Some players cannot cope with the fatigue of a highly disputed game, especially near the finish when the rate of technical and tactical errors increases. Furthermore, the deterioration of power, speed, agility, and quickness will consistently negate a good performance.

How is this book organized?

The entire discussion regarding physical training begins by defining the fundamentals of rugby (chapter 1) followed by attempting to define the physiological demands of the game (chapter 2). This chapter is essential because within it we will define time-motion analysis of the game, specify the dominant energy systems and motor abilities used in rugby (also called ergogenesis), and introduce the concept of the demand for position-specific training. To better serve your needs, game-specific testing will be presented in chapter 3, where a player profile will be suggested and used for specific training program development.

We strongly believe training effectiveness is quite impossible to achieve without being organized. So for your convenience, we have included a comprehensive discussion about planning periodization in chapter 4. In this chapter we'll present short term and annual plans, and the methodology used to create them.

In your attempt to peak for league games or some important international tournaments, you will need to be versed in the area of periodization of the motor ability specific to rugby. This actually refers to how to structure your training programs to achieve and maintain optimal performance prior to and during these very important games.

A considerable amount of this book will be used to discuss the dominant motor abilities needed for an effective game such as strength and power (chapter 5), agility and quickness (chapter 6), speed (chapter 7), and endurance (chapter 8). All our discussions about the methodology of developing the motor abilities specific to rugby are as practical as possible, constantly providing rugby-specific examples and drills.

Unlike other books, we uniquely understand that a rugby team is made out of different players, each of them playing a specific position, which requires a position-specific physical demand and a position-specific motor ability to be developed if that player is expected to excel during the game.

To make this book very practical and easy to apply we are also making specific suggestions how to develop the abilities needed for each position with practical examples and drills. Finally, this book reveals the ever important, and often neglected method used for recovery following the game and training (chapter 9), and how to avoid fatigue and over-training. Since you cannot play or train without having the necessary energy, we are also discussing optimal nutrition and how to periodize nutrition.

Selected thoughts before you turn this page

Do what's important! New training ideas are springing up almost daily. Some are recycled ideas, others are plain lies. The stores, on the other hand, are full of all kinds of novel training equipment and gadgets. Some are good but others are more than questionable. Salesmen will sell you...