Mr. Paterson, very much at home in the try zone! Carisbrook Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand
James Paterson’s Excellent Super Rugby Adventure, Part II - “Being There” ed: in Part I, first posted online and in RM3R 4.28.14, “Paddo” related his progression from Colorado high school rugby grounds through regional select side work and on to Canterbury Crusaders Rugby Academy, his direction, and diet in: “Getting There” Asked
to crystallize his Super Rugby experience into one word, James’ description of his time with Highlanders: “Intense,” and he goes on to explain, “from being in the public view and the media that generates, to training, to competition against other teams, and also competition within New Zealand to keep your job.” Super Rugby: not part-time work Once contracted to Highlanders, James joined in the club’s training and conditioning schedule, and he recalls: “Between playing in two competitions (Air New Zealand Cup - ANC - and Super Rugby), there was not a lot of down time for an off-season. We usually would get 2-4 weeks off after ANC and 2 weeks between Super Rugby season and ANC. For ANC, your pre-season is effectively Super Rugby and you head straight into the (ANC) season from there.” As a rule, Super Rugby squads come together in November for, “a couple of months pre-season,” says Paterson. “This would be a very intense training period. We’d go from 7am to 7pm… everything from fitnessbased, team-building activities like mini-iron man, dragon boat racing, rowing… (in addition to) very intensive weight sessions as well as speed drills.” In the first month of Super Rugby training, conditioning programs are designed and developed specific to the individual: “Your program depended on your position (on the field) and body composition. Some bigger guys who needed weights would do considerable cardiac and the faster, lean guys would do more repetitive speed and power work.” not all fun and games… The initial nine weeks of Super Rugby training is critical, first focusing on conditioning and then progressing more into the rugby. Paterson relates the training interval as very taxing physically and a time, “no player looked forward to… this was extremely strenuous. The goal was to build a physical base. During the season 2014 Pacific Rugby Premiership Championship Glendale Raptors v San Francisco Golden Gate a t Infinity,, S a t u r d a y , M a y 1 7 , 3 p m