My Week: Billy McBryde
Former Scarlets, RGC and Wales U20 fly-half Billy McBryde - who last month announced his move to Doncaster Knights in the English Championship - gives us an insight into his life in lockdown.
Monday
Start the day trying to perfect my coffee art (and failing). After breakfast I head down to Parc y Mynydd Mawr, the home of Tumble Rugby Club, where I’ve been doing the majority of my training. Start the session with some kicking practice – it’s important to stay on top of your kicking skills, especially as a fly-half. After an hour of kicking, it’s a running session to sharpen my fitness, which is also all-important. Lunch and then some jobs around the house for the rest of the afternoon.
Tuesday
Take Mali the dog, who’s almost 15 years old, out for a little walk. I’m very lucky to live somewhere we can go out walking, particularly during this period. Weights session in the garage – fortunate to have a makeshift gym with enough equipment in it to keep me in shape. I’ve enjoyed researching new training sessions and exercises over the past few weeks. An afternoon of relaxing and competing in a Zoom quiz with the family, which is a good way of keeping in touch with them.
Wednesday
Yoga and prehab to start the day. Working on my body’s flexibility and strengthening the smaller muscles to minimise the risk of injury. A trip down to the nets at Drefach Cricket Club with my brother so he can work on his bowling and I can smash the ball as hard as possible every shot. Growing up in the area, I played youth rugby for Tumble during the rugby season, then spent every summer playing cricket for Drefach (and still do every year!). Inspired by watching The Last Dance on Netflix, I’m reading Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson, the former Chicago Bulls head coach, which I highly recommend.
Thursday
Chatting to Catrin Heledd and Gareth Charles for ‘Byd Rygbi Cats a Charlo’ on Radio Cymru. We talk about my move to Doncaster Knights. I’m very excited about the opportunity to experience rugby across the bridge – whenever the season restarts, that is. It will be a good challenge for me as a player and as a person. Training in the afternoon with a kicking and running session, working on the core skills of passing and kicking under fatigue. My turn to cook dinner tonight: pasta with salmon in white sauce, made from scratch!
Friday
A morning of rugby on the television. I enjoy watching the NRL in Australia. You can pick up a few things watching that as a player. Weights today with a bit of circuits thrown in at the end, ready for a weekend of relaxing. BBQ and a couple of well-earned beers tonight with the family, then socialising with friends over the PlayStation.
Saturday
Super Rugby’s back on our screens and it’s great to see. For a player, it’s a ray of hope seeing other countries going back to normal. Speed and kicking session today. Technique is important in these two aspects of training. Relax for the afternoon watching football or a film on TV.
Sunday
A day of recovery for the body today. Looking forward to a quiz with my mates in the afternoon. Spend time with the family during the day. We never normally have time like this together, so that’s been a positive aspect of the pandemic. It’s been difficult without rugby in our lives, but I’m really looking forward to the time when I get to run out on the field again!
