Short, sharp training sessions a hit for the returning Luke Jacobson

NZ Herald

All Black loose forward Luke Jacobson has revealed less is more when it comes to Warren Gatland’s coaching sessions at the Chiefs.

The date of Jacobson’s return is still up in the air as he makes his way back from concussion issues but he is building up his contact work.

Quality not quantity appears to be the hallmark of training sessions under Gatland, the former Welsh boss who has coached in Europe since the 1990s.

“He’s made a few little changes. At the start he was quiet and observing, he’s slowly bringing the changes in now,” said Jacobson.

“The main one is shorter training which is top stuff. There’s an hour training in the afternoon, in previous years it might have been two hours, two and a half hours.

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“Our first training in the morning is not until 9.30 so you’ve got a bit of time to sort your things out.

“Most of the time you come in anyway and do pre-hab or are looking at some footy, but there’s a bit more time on your hands which makes things more enjoyable.”

Gatland built a reputation for coaching a very physical and controlled type of game known as ‘Warrenball’ at odds with how the Chiefs are perceived to play.

Jacobson said: “We’ll still be playing an exciting brand of footy, it’s in our DNA and a point of difference. Our counter attacking game can break things open when there isn’t much there.

Ongoing concussion issues have kept @ChiefsRugby flyer Sam McNicol out of the team for almost three years now. @TomVinicombe spoke to the outside back ahead of his impending return.https://t.co/9RuOACNKYw #SuperRugby @SuperRugbyNZ

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 21, 2020

“We will be using our strengths to the best we can, but I’d imagine Warren will bring a little bit of a different spin on things. It will be cool to see how we work those together.”

Jacobson won’t play the opening encounter against the Blues at Eden Park on Friday next week, and hopes his return comes in round two or three.

“Everything has been going good and I’m back into full training,” he said.

“I could have been back earlier, but we thought I might as well make the most of the time off, try and make sure it’s right when I get out there.”

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Jacobson went to Japan with the All Blacks but headed back home before the World Cup started.

“It was a really exciting time getting named in the All Blacks, and it wasn’t the nicest thing and pretty tough to take especially as I didn’t get a game out there.”

He said the Super Rugby season had “come around bloody quick – it feels like we’ve just got back from our break…that’s good, less pre-season.”

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.

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