Performance nutrition goes head to head

by James Skitt - 06.09.10

The Aviva Premiership got underway at the weekend with London Wasps and Harlequins involved in a thrilling 29-29 tie at Twickenham on Saturday.

Unusually, the encounter pitted two English Institute of Sport (EIS) practitioners in opposition after both clubs decided to invest in Performance Nutrition ahead of the new season as part of their Sport Science and Medical support staff.

Daniel Kings, who previously spent seven years working with the Welsh national side before joining the EIS earlier this year, has been working one day a week at Harlequins since June, whilst Michael Naylor, a Performance Nutritionist with the EIS for three years, joined Wasps last month supporting the club three days a week.

Both agree that nutrition plays an essential role in supporting players training, preparation for and recovery from matches.

“Good nutrition can play a key role in a number of areas within Rugby” says Kings. “It can help in aspects from recovery through to making sure the players get the maximum gains from their strength programmes.”

Naylor adds: “Optimal food and fluid intake can help maximise energy levels for training and matches, aid recovery in order to maximise gains from every training sessions, maintain good health and avoid illness.

"Furthermore, we are always looking to achieve a competitive edge over opponents and various nutrition strategies can play a pivotal role in that.”  

Whilst both clubs get the benefit of sharing rugby nutritional knowledge with the network of EIS nutritionists, both practitioners are at pains to state that there will be no sharing of individual player information to give others any advantage

Both Kings and Naylor have spent pre-season getting to know players, coaches and support staff at their respective clubs to ensure the nutrition service effectively supports the team.

“We’ve initiated some individual strategies with players to maximise gains from the pre-season and ensure their match-day strategies are optimal” says Wasps assigned Naylor, who will work closely alongside the teams coaches throughout the season to ensure the new strategies continue to work.

Over at Harlequins meanwhile, Kings says, “Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea (formerly EIS National Director) has had a great impact which has made integrating my support a lot easier.

“We’ve placed a lot of emphasis during pre season on looking at the specific physical demands of each position and focusing on ensuring each player is functionally effective whilst minimising the risk of injury.”

“It’s important to get the right balance whereby the player is strong and robust without having unnecessary weight around joints that will expose them to risk of injury.”

Following good pre season preparation both believe their clubs are in great shape for a successful season.

“The club have moved their training base to excellent facilities at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford which have created a great environment to work in” says Kings, who’s predicting a Harlequins win by five points at Twickenham.

”The areas around functionality we have focused on in training have worked really well and we’ve seen some really good improvements in the testing we’ve done, so I’m sure we’ll have a good season.”

Naylor meanwhile, believes Wasps are also set for a good campaign. “We’ve had a good pre-season and are looking strong,” he says.

For a full match report on Saturday’s game click here (external link)

Photography © Getty Images