The truth about those training sessions that sparked O’Brien storm
BRITISH and Irish Lions flanker Sean O’Brien dominated the news agenda this week when he publicly criticised head coach Warren Gatland and attack coach Rob Howley.
The Wales boss received criticism for alleged over-training, with the Irishman saying that players felt heavy in the build-up to the first Test against the All Blacks, a game the Lions lost 30-15.
He also claimed Howley struggled to get his ideas across, with players subsequently driving the gameplan, and said the Lions should have won the series comfortably.
His words sent shockwaves through the rugby world as such public outings of a coach are rare – though some might say commendable – in modern sport.
They will have stung the two Wales coaches and it has emerged that Gatland wants a meeting with the flanker to discuss the comments.
So, what actually happened in the training sessions, and is O’Brien right? Here, MATTHEW SOUTHCOMBE look at the breakdown of the schedule ahead of the first and final Tests. TRIPLE SESSION ON THE THURSDAY OF FIRST TEST What O’Brien said... “THE first week, we definitely overtrained on the Thursday and maybe the coaches were panicking a little bit about getting the information into us.
“On the first week [of the first Test], we had a triple [session] day, [the] lads’ legs were heavy on the Thursday and we were playing the All Blacks on Saturday.” What happened... TRAINING on the Thursday before the first Test was an optional gym session, 35-minute unit session (line out and scrums) and a 45-minute rugby session (including an eight-minute warm up). CRITICISM OF THE FINAL TEST WEEK What O’Brien said... “WE did nearly a similar thing in the last week. So maybe it’s more [from] a coaching point of view, in terms of taking lessons.
“Less is more sometimes on a tour like that, rather than trying to pick things up at the end of the week.
“There was probably no need for that but it’s just the way it was managed. We had said it, at the time, and they pulled back a bit. But it’s just about getting that fine balance between players and coaches and making sure the group is ready to rock.” What happened... THE training session on the Wednesday of the final week was 45 minutes for the backs and 67 minutes for the forwards and on the Thursday 40 minutes for the backs and 47 for the forwards.
The Lions schedule was lighter in the final week, with the squad heading to Queenstown for some rest and relaxation. They actually decided against training on the Tuesday to ensure they could make the trip and ensure players didn’t feel jaded.
Such a model was used successfully by the Lions coaches in 2009 and 2013. THE WIDER CONTEXT... GATLAND prides himself on being a meticulous planner of training sessions and regimes. He’s been heralded as one of the best around at knowing when players have had enough.
Former Wales and Lions fitness guru Adam Beard has spoken of an example in the build up to the crucial final Test in 2013.
“We went to Noosa and Warren had a lot of hard time from some of his coaches over that,” revealed Beard.
“We had a few days off and Warren is very good at that - he did it several times with Wales when I was there - at giving the players more time off.
“We did a session towards the end of the week and they (other coaches) wanted to do a much bigger session. Me and Warren debated back and forth on this.
“I said ‘look, we’re going to have a brilliant training session today but it’s probably going to be left on the field here’ and that’s when he changed it, we cut that session short.
“A lot of coaches weren’t that impressed but at the end of the day it was about the Test match, not training in Noosa, so he did very well there.”
Without being on the training paddock in the build up to those Test matches, it’s impossible to say exactly what went on.
But it’s worth pondering the role of the other coaches in this as well, with defence coach Andy Farrell and assistant coach Graham Rowntree known to be ferocious motivators.