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David Stringer with England Rugby at Bisham Abbey

October half-term saw David attend Bisham Abbey with the England U18’s training squad for the first time this year. We had 36 players with us which included most of our squad from the South Africa Tour in August. Sadly, for some of those players previously on tour, they weren’t selected this time around. I hadn’t been to Bisham Abbey for several years, and if I’m honest I didn’t previously know a great deal about its history. It used to be a home of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. England football used to use it as their main training base prior to using St Georges Park and it’s now used by England Hockey and the English Institute of Sport. England Rugby used it last season with our U20’s and Women’s squads and this year the U18’s have joined them.
As usual on these trips, we first changed the various rooms of the Abbey into or training base so that we had a dining room, meeting room, analysis room, social area and of course a medical room. Once the players arrived, they went through a series of medical tests including A Medical with myself or our Lead Doctor, their baseline concussion tests with some invited Doctors and some range of movement screening with some invited physiotherapists. Following our assessments (and assuming they were fully fit) it was the turn of our Strength and Conditioning Team to add in their strength and speed testing. Due to the nature of this testing, it meant that they didn’t start any rugby until day two of the camp, and from there it was, as usual, a mixture of rugby, weights and conditioning throughout the week.
It was a pretty special week as it took place in the build-up to the World Cup Final in Japan, with the players fully aware that the likes of Tom Curry had been in their position just a few before and he was preparing to play in the biggest match of all.
From my perspective, these training weeks are always fantastic. Its always a real pleasure to work with our younger players. They are so excited and positive, and I enjoy being able to watch them develop not only as rugby players but also as young men. It is then fantastic when you get the opportunity to watch them attend their first Senior Team Camp or play in their first Senior Game. For now, however, they have their Academy League to focus on before they re-join us in February prior to our Six Nations Festival in France
To book an appointment with David or one of the team, please contact David by phone on 07974 578 191 or by e-mail: david@leedssportsphysio.com

AUTHOR - Lyndon Ogden

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