Bob Dylan’s song lyrics highlighted the generation gap and the political divide that marked American life and culture in the 1960s and there is an argument the same sentiment is as apt today as it was then, once again brought into a sharp focus with the US election on the horizon.
Change is a constant element in life, we tend not to notice its scale or impact until a period of time has elapsed. Last season the international playing calendar crept into mid-July for the first time, memorably from an Ireland rugby perspective, with that second Test victory over the Springboks.
One of the last tours I embarked on was to New Zealand in 2012; done and dusted by the third week in June. The knock-on effect of rugby meandering deeper into the summer is a later start to the current season, shifting from early to late September. This is representative of a global fixture schedule taking shape, in trying to align rugby in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Even in the midst of significant change, some things will remain the same, such as preseason, the natural reset when every player, coach and organisation pauses to draw breath or in the case of those that experience it first-hand, find it.
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Each player has different requirements from a preseason depending on the stage of their career and whether or not they are playing at international level. In my early days, preseason was an opportunity to draw a line under a campaign that hadn’t necessarily gone to plan.
Maturity taught me to use that time wisely and focus on what was needed. It’s normally the same for all young pretenders; strength, endurance and tapping into a bit of resilience. As I began to achieve goals on and off the pitch, the preseason took on a different role.
Holidays were less about fun, more about recharging mentally and physically. I have a distinct memory of being away with friends and, halfway through the rest period, craving for the preseason work to begin. Especially at a time when Leinster and Ireland were successful, I was so desperate to recreate that feeling at the final whistle of matches; an emotional high that was addictive and a huge internal catalyst in motivating me.
In the final chapters of my career, preseason was an opportunity to tend to a failing body with a different mindset. Working smarter not harder, I knew how to play the game, and as scores plateaued in the gym, the focus was to maximise my strengths to keep going for as long as possible.
Athletes talk about balance; I’d say in my whole career there was one six-month period where I achieved that. There is psychological safety in the preseason window. While it is physically daunting there is plenty of room for mistakes, and there is a huge freedom in that. It is that environment of collective learning that underpins successful teams. It’s by design rather than accidental.
Prior to Michael Cheika’s arrival in Leinster, there wasn’t always a key theme or goal shared by the squad. There was a big shift in how Leinster approached preseason under the Australian, his view was that the game was speeding up and he wanted players lighter and fitter.
Hill runs, speed interval repeats, running and more running, he wanted to break us physically and mentally, then see who would keep going or, in some cases, just stand up. The way we trained reflected how he wanted us to play, fight for everything no matter how small. I had a smile when reading about his recent exploits, Cheika already ingratiating himself with the Leicester faithful.
Where Joe Schmidt dovetailed with Cheika was to build on the fitness and resilience base by adding skill sets under pressure. It was the same brutal schedule, but we were asked to make decisions with the ball in hand. Physical and mental exhaustion didn’t excuse any drop in the highest standards.
How you train, how you handle physical stress, how far you push mentally, are internal driving mechanisms. If they exist, a person can thrive in the professional rugby environment and the best players I’ve played alongside and against display those traits, relentless in their pursuit of excellence.
Once you stepped out of the preseason bubble, the pressure surfaced almost instantly, again dependent on where you featured on the playing roster.
The first couple of rounds in this season’s URC were conducted without a gaggle of Irish internationals. Opportunities arose and were taken by Sam Prendergast and Charlie Tector in blue, Ben Murphy and Cathal Forde for Connacht, while Ruadhán Quinn (Munster) and Aidan Morgan (Ulster) kicked off their respective seasons in style.
The days of having a few games to ease your way into things, to prioritise physical development to the detriment of skills work when the matches came around, have been consigned to the past.
Today it is expected for players to hit the ground running from their first involvement: Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ciarán Frawley and Tadhg Beirne are great examples of players doing exactly that. Aki and Frawley in particular showed the value of doing the simple things well and at the right time.
Aki’s pass to Paul Boyle in the Ospreys match and Frawley’s delayed pass to Garry Ringrose in Treviso were two fantastic examples of good decision-making and execution.
The URC has been striving for higher-quality matches that feature more frontline players more often. We have seen in recent years that results matter across the season from the opening whistle and the importance of securing home comfort in the knock-out stages if focusing on two competitions.
Leinster’s strong selection last week, a nod to the upcoming back-to-back interpros, suggests a change of tack to that of previous campaigns.
Munster, shorn by injury, will still travel to Croke Park on Saturday evening with plenty of motivation after reigniting this rivalry in recent years. Watching Jack Crowley and Frawley go head-to-head in front of 75,000-plus, a headline example of several key duels, that will add mightily to the occasion.
Preseason will start to feel like a lifetime ago.
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