Gary Ahmed and Eifion Roberts could be described as a team within a team. As Physiotherapist and Strength and Conditioning coach respectively for Wales Sevens, they oversee a physical programme that goes far beyond the weights room and the treatment table.
Wales have enjoyed a remarkable start to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with semi- and quarter-final finishes in the opening two rounds, and it is thanks in large part to the backroom duo’s efforts that the coaches’ plans are being implemented effectively on the field.
Like everything about the game itself, the learning curve for an outsider coming into the world of sevens is fast. Roberts, who hails from Pembrokeshire, joined Wales Sevens after a long spell with the Scarlets (which included overseeing the development of the likes of George North and Scott Williams in the academy). “There are different challenges from an S&C perspective when moving from rugby union into sevens,” he says. “Things like long travel times, jetlag and playing six games over the course of the weekend are things I didn’t have to work with before. But it sharpens you up and forces you to look at other areas and to improve in them.”
For Gateshead man Ahmed, who has an NHS background, it was the amount of time he had to treat an individual that dropped dramatically. “In a clinic, you’d get the occasional amateur player with rugby injuries, but you’d be getting 20- to 30-minute appointments with them,” he says. “In contrast, during a sevens match you’ve got about 20-30 seconds to assess someone and decide whether they’re fit to play. The only way you’re going to get that experience is by working in sport. You improve your time management significantly.”
Their roles may be based in physiology, but both men are highly attuned to the fact that a player’s brain is one of the most important muscles they work with. “An emotional rollercoaster” is how Ahmed describes Sevens. “I’m very interested in the psychology of pain. If somebody’s had an injury, sometimes you need to work with them mentally rather than physically,” he says. “You can tell them truthfully, ‘I’m happy for you to continue playing: you’re not going to cause damage, it’s just going to hurt a little bit,’ and that gives the players reassurance and encouragement.”
Ahmed calls it “changing a person’s psychology to change someone’s biochemistry”. Roberts also notes the demands faced by the new players in the sevens set-up. “It’s something totally new to some of them,” he says. “In Cape Town, for example, we were on day two of our second week of the series, having accumulated a lot of knocks, and they still had to raise their game against the best sevens teams in the world. That’s definitely a psychological challenge, but it helps with their development and instils some mental toughness in them.”
Halfway through 2016, the coaches laid down a challenge for the team. As Roberts recalls: “In our first session together, we told them they’ve got the longest pre-season of any group of Welsh rugby players, and with that amount of time there were no excuses not to be the best physical specimens they can be. The hardest-working group. To be fair to them, they’ve stood up to that challenge and probably even exceeded expectations. They’ve put the work in and deserved the success they’ve had.”
That pre-season was a staggering 20 weeks long, and it’s with some pride that Roberts says the players were still pushing themselves to new levels in the final week.
Roberts’s effective conditioning of the players is crucial to Ahmed’s work as a physiotherapist, and vice versa. “If a player is physically and psychologically fitter, they’re going to perform tasks better, such as tackling in a safe and effective body position, sprinting with more resistant hamstrings, stepping with good leg control,” Ahmed says. “Compare that to someone who’s tiring because they’re not at optimum fitness: they’re likely to go into these situations at a disadvantage.”
Whilst most of the nation will be enjoying the festive break, Wales Sevens are intent on progressing their physical development, rather than just maintaining their fitness. “We have a very self-driven group, and though we may have breaks between tournaments we can’t afford to switch off,” says Roberts. “When you’re away, it can be hard keeping up that quality of training because you have to adapt to different facilities. Now we’re back in Wales we’re increasing the running and gym work so we can build on that strength and fitness foundation.”
With Wellington their next destination on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in late January, Wales Sevens will certainly be ready in body and mind for the challenge that lies ahead.
