A watching brief ....
Mar0420109:51 p.m.
Hi everyone, thanks for your good luck messages, but as you might know, I wasn’t selected…. So this is how my week went: Monday morning I came back to the hotel to start my week’s training with England. For my breakfast at Pennyhill Park, I have scrambled eggs and salmon. On that morning, I weighed 112.4kg and my body fat was 14.4%. I think I can put the loss down to trying a Maximuscle product called Thermobol and a healthy diet with only the odd treat…!
We started the day’s training with 1 hour of lineouts, then straight into the gym for pre-hab and weights. I’ve been working hard over the last few weeks in improving my explosive power during my weight sessions. In the afternoon, we did a lot of running but not much contact. With the GPS system we have strapped onto ourselves, we get to know exactly how long we’ve been running for: on average each player ran 5000m.
Monday night I had a bit of a surprise when I was told I was dropped from the matchday 22. I thought I’d trained well and played well in the short time I was given, but it’s the coaches’ decision. I was really disappointed though. Tuesday’s training session is mentally quite hard when you’re not involved in the 22, but it’s my job to train as well as I can and help the 22 who have been picked to prepare for the game in the best way possible. When you’re not involved you have to pack up and leave the team hotel on the Tuesday night. As there was a break in the Top 14 Championship, Brive let me take a few days off, so I went back to Northampton to spend time with my friends and family.
In the 5 days I had off, I did 2 weights sessions and 2 fitness sessions just to keep ticking over and to make sure I burned a few calories. On the Saturday, I sat and watched the England v Ireland game. I was gutted we lost our chance of winning the Grand Slam. We were so close, but once again not clinical enough to finish them off. Next week will be a different one for me, as I will back in Brive to train before Saturday’s TOP 14 match against Castres. Have a good week. Tommo.
Post views 958
Comments (4)
onthefloor04 'So close, but fair play to Ireland we didn't give them many chances but when we did they took them.' added 5th Mar 2010
Report as inappropriate
Potts84 'It was a shame last week Tommo but if we get clinical, the french are definitely beatable. Looking forward to Staurday's Top 14 match ' added 5th Mar 2010
Report as inappropriate
murray_kings 'Surprised you didn't make the team for the Ireland game Steve. England didn't deserve a Grand Slam surely on their showing this year?' added 6th Mar 2010
Report as inappropriate
twammers 'Hi Tommo. Conspicuous in your absence for the Ireland game, sorry you didn't make the team. I notice on the RBS 6 Nations website that you commented on Dylan Hartley being a potential 'star' for the future but I've got a question about that. It seems to me that if Dylan has a weakness it's his throwing in, which is sometimes very inconsistent. Can someone playing in that position make it all the way if there is a 'chink' in their armour, especially as that is an absolutely key skill for a 'hooker'? Hope you make the team for the game against Scotland and I hope you can craft a win at Murrayfield to give us all something to cheer about on Saturday afternoon.' added 8th Mar 2010
Report as inappropriate