WAVELL WAKEFIELD
WAVELL Wakefield was known for his cutting edge training methods during his time with England in the 1920s and much of that he put down to his Sedbergh schooldays.
He was adamant you could over-train and he cites a big match against Loretto, taking in a 15-mile run on the Wednesday to work on his stamina.
“I was absolutely stale when the match came round on the Saturday and remember trying to make a despairing tackle and being cursed for not going low,” recalled Wakefield. “I simply had not the energy in me to make the tackle. I have never forgotten how much better it is to be under-trained rather than over-trained.”
On being made captain Wakefield abolished the obligatory House runs every Thursday for members of the XV. “Instead I substituted short sprints which would increase their speed and be equally good for their wind.” Wakefield extended this further when he went up to Cambridge, banning his squad from any heavy training for the nine days before the big match.
Wakefield listed a number of other positives from his Sedbergh days. First was studying the laws and what they said rather than assuming you knew them.
Dribbling the ball was an important skill. A competition was devised to see who could dribble furthest up the pitch without the ball going outside two parallel lines five yards apart.
Great things were always expected from Wakefield at Sedbergh. His uncle was AW Wakefield the Everest climber who captained the Sedbergh XV for three years. Wakefield himself played for the First XV before the age of 15 while still captaining the Colts. Younger brother RC Wakefield was at the school between 1919-25 and toured Argentina with the 1927 Lions.