'We're getting data every day on every player': How the All Blacks plan to get back on top of the pack in 2021
When the All Blacks take on the Springboks, the game doesn’t really start on a Saturday evening at Eden Park, it kicks off in the weeks and months beforehand, even if no one is keeping score.
Because although every goal kicked, tackle made and try scored on the night determines who emerges victorious at the end of 80 minutes, it’s the decisions made in advance that play just as big a role in a team’s success.
Some of those decisions include game strategy and coaching but other factors like fitness, nutrition, and physical and mental health all have an impact.
That’s where the likes of Doctors Nic Gill and James McGarvey come in, men who are specifically tasked with making sure that what happens off the field will put the All Blacks in the best position to succeed on the field.
“In the All Blacks, we’re getting data every day on every player,” says Gill, the All Blacks Strength and Conditioning coach who’s been working with the New Zealand national side for the past 11 years.
“We have information on how players are sleeping, how quickly they’re running, how much weight they’re lifting, how fast they are moving that weight… We look at [those numbers] on a regular basis to help make decisions on what that player needs, what they don’t need, how they’re tracking, if they’re getting enough recovery in et cetera.”
“Those numbers help guide our discussions and help us make our decisions.”
And a big part of how a player performs in any given match is a result of how well they’ve recovered from the previous week.
Over the course of a long season, players can be expected to back up match after match, putting their body on the line against opposition who are just as desperate for wins. With sometimes less than seven days between games, effective post-match recovery is paramount.
“In the All Blacks, we prioritise recovery as something that’s very very important,” says Gill. “We understand, I suppose, the benefit to performance, the benefit to training, the benefit to adaptation from the training [that recovery can bring].
“Especially nowadays with the increased intensity of the game. The sheer size and strength of some of these players is massive so recovering from collisions and the amount of work they have to do in a game is hugely important.
“If recovery’s compromised, especially in rugby players, typically what you end up getting is injuries or a really blunted performance. Going into battle every Saturday, you need to be in your peak condition physically, but also mentally. If you haven’t recovered sufficiently during the week, you’ll enter that battlefield in a compromised manner and you’ll probably come off second best.”
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Naturally, as one of the most successful professional sports teams in the world, the All Blacks have their post-match recovery process down to an art – but it still needs to be catered specifically to each athlete. That might mean ice baths, active recovery on a bike, or topping up nutrients and energy that have been lost through the hard slog on the pitch.
Healthspan Elite have officially come on board as supplement suppliers for the All Blacks this year and their range of products for top athletes who aspire to reach peak performance are just as important post-match as they are leading into game week, says Gill.
“Post a test-match, the protein hit that we get is important. We get this through Healthspan Elite’s protein powder. Then we get the Vitamin C, and Vitamin A doses through an immunity boost and multivitamins.
“[During the week], whilst we encourage natural wholefoods as a first choice, sometimes it’s just not practical and so we do rely on supplementation to ensure that the boys stay healthy.”
Another massive factor in recovery is sleep. It’s hard enough for most people to recuperate after a day of work or study, but it’s even tougher when your work involves playing one of the most intense, adrenaline-pumping sports on the planet and not finishing up until late at night.
“We know sleep is massively important,” says Gill. “We know that it’s the most important tool to ensure that we learn, we improve our skill and we recover from any physical exertion so we wake up the next day better and faster.
“If we have a kick-off at 8 o’clock at night, we’re not getting back to the hotel until 12:30 in the morning, 1 o’clock. Even if you wanted to get a good night’s sleep, you’re not going to be switching off until 2 am.
“We’re sort of a little bit lucky in the All Blacks that we’re a travelling team, we’re always on the road, we’re always in the hotel. If you want to get lots of sleep, you can. And we can encourage naps during the day too because our days are pretty busy and pretty full.”
James McGarvey, All Blacks doctor, is also conscious of how important getting a good night’s sleep can be – and it can be a particularly hard thing to get right when players are expected to regularly adjust to new environments.
“Our players know about sleep hygiene and how to get off to sleep and get the best quality sleep,” says McGarvey. “They know the importance of sleep and getting enough hours.
“We use a variety of things to help if people are struggling with sleep – put them in their own room, use things like tart cherry juice or natural melatonins, that kind of thing.”
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The other factor that’s become more of an obstacle this season is illness – the impacts of common colds and flus.
The global coronavirus pandemic has understandably tightened up precautions surrounding any cold or flu symptoms but even outside of the anomaly that is 2020, minor sicknesses can throw a player’s preparation off.
“In the All Blacks, we have relatively short periods of training so we need them to take on everything they can. There’s lots of evidence around people with symptoms missing days [and how it] directly relates to performance on the field, so we work pretty hard to try maintain immunity as our first line of defence.
“If they have a more significant illness and they can’t train, there’s a more major effect. With COVID, we have to isolate everyone who’s got any symptoms so it has a massive effect, because they’re stuck in their room for three days. We’re working harder than ever to prevent that.”
Naturally, that means ‘Doc’ McGarvey must do what he can to prevent the All Blacks from getting sick – whether that means complete immunisation or simply strengthening the body’s already robust systems.
“Really, just all of our wellness steps are things that help players’ immunity. Things like sleep, which is a challenge in this environment with all the travel and hotels and late games. Diet is a big one. Our nutritionist works really hard to give the players as healthy as possible a diet.
“Supplements can also play a part, says McGarvey. “Vitamin C, especially in athletes or people who are working hard physically, seems to reduce your risk of respiratory tract infections. We also use probiotics and multivitamins, to try to ensure people are getting everything they need.”
The Healthspan Elite range is all batch-tested and competition safe, which means that the All Blacks – and any other professional or aspiring athletes – can take supplements they are confident won’t contain any banned or illegal substances.
The All Blacks have always lived by the mantra that no man is bigger than the team, and that players who are on the bench or supporting the starters at training are just as important for the side’s success as the men who are wearing jerseys 1 to 15 come game day. It’s not just the players who have a massive role to play, however.
The All Blacks can only put their best foot forward if men like Dr Nic Gill and Dr James McGarvey are making sure that the players are recovering well from the physical toll that playing rugby takes on the body, getting the right amount of sleep, able to fight off everyday sicknesses and taking the right supplements to support all of the above.
A champion team will always beat a team of champions – and the team is a lot bigger than many may give credit for.
The full range of Healthspan Elite products are available here in the UK and here in New Zealand.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments