A typical week at La Vila rugby club 01/10/2010

Monday

Monday starts off at 11:30am with recovery on the beach. We will have played a match the day before, so this session is just about getting us out of bed and moving again. We take a walk down to the end of the beach, do some static stretching in pairs (yes, a whole bunch of big rugby players stretching each other does look a bit funning…) and then get into the water to get the blood circulating in the muscles again. There is a local café/bar across the road, owned by an ex-player of the club, where we finish the morning drinking coffee and reminiscing about the game the day before. At 8:30pm that night we have a video analysis session of the weekend's game, which can last anywhere between 1-2 hours (depending on the result). The physio is at the club from 6:30pm - 8:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays so some of the boys go up early to have an injury checked out or just have a rub down.

Tuesday

Tuesday we at the club for 9:30am. In the morning, only the pro players have to be there. Some of the local lads work so can only make the evening sessions. We normally have about 15 guys in the morning. Backs and Forwards split, backs in the gym and forwards on the field doing skills and at 10:30am we swop over and do visa versa. Afterwards a group of us normally end up at a local coffee shop bantering away about anything and everything and definitely drinking to much coffee…but hey when in Spain… do what the locals do! That evening 8:30pm-10:00pm we have a full squad training involving about 26 players. The first hour is team play and some controlled contact. The last 30min is a hard fitness block.

Wednesday

It's a 9:30 start, backs and forwards split, while the backs are in the gym the forwards do lines and scrum work. We then swop over and the backs do their strike moves and forwards are in the gym. Afterwards we come together and finish off on the field doing some sort of team play or fitness games. The session ends at about 12, from here on training becomes a lot more toned down so that we are ready for the game on Sunday. The club is busy sorting out a few Spanish lessons for us once a week. These should start soon and will be after training at about 1pm. Some of the boys have taken well to trying to pick up a few Spanish words so this is often an interesting class - ending up with some crazy sentence being made up about one of the boys antics on the weekend. Wednesday night we have the night off which I try to spend doing anything but rugby ie Going out to eat or chilling at home with the wife and a couple of movies.

Thursday

Very similar to Tuesday, the only difference being that there is less focus on fitness but more on team shape and functionality.

Friday

Day off … No rugby! It's a day to sleep in late and chill out. Sometimes I do a little day trip to a small town or village nearby. In summer, there's definitely a bit of beach time thrown in for good measure.

Saturday

If we are playing at home this week we will have a captains run out at about 6pm and but otherwise try to stay off my feet and get in the liquids. If we are playing away we leave on the bus at 8am from the club. Normally the trips range between 8-14 hours…! Sounds terrible but its not that bad. There is normally some good chat on the bus between the boys, loads of cards and poker being played and every now and then a few classic pranks on the unfortunate sleepers! When we arrive we have a short captains run, a massive super and hit the sack for some quality sleep before the big game on Sunday.

Sunday

Kick off is at 12:00, regardless whether we are playing home or away. Afterwards both teams have a couple of beers in the home team's clubhouse while the post match formalities are done. Because it is such a long trip back home, the visiting team jumps straight back onto the bus and heads home. If it's been a home game for us we head down the hill into La Vila to a bar on the beachfront (the one owned by our old team mate). The vibe is always good, with lots of beer flowing, as there should be after any game of rugby! If the evening has gone well many of us end up in the Benidorm, a nearby party town, where the festivities continue.

Experience the county you’re in

Leaving your home country and playing in Europe as a pro rugby player is a move which many players are left to make. The top-dogs of International and Super 14 rugby are sought after by the likes of the French Top 14 and Italian Top 10 clubs, leaving the rest up us to battle it out for a contract somewhere else in Europe – countries like Spain, Portugal or the 3^rd & 4^th divisions in France and Italy.

Taking into account that most clubs in Europe have had to cut budgets and reduce the size of their squads over the past few years, one should feel privileged to be making a living out of rugby in the years hit by recession.

I have been lucky enough to get my hands on a contract in Spain. Over the last 3 years and I have been very happy at La Vila, but have seen my fair share of players coming and going. Some of who seemed to love the experience of a foreign league and country, while others left unhappy or frustrated and even counting down the days until their contract ends. For me, the key is to view your time in Europe not only as RUGBY. Of course, play and train like the pro you are expected to be, but also spend some time experiencing the country you're in. Learn a bit of the language, get involved in the local activities (a lot of fiestas in the case of Spain) and try as many new things as you can. Especially things you would not have a chance to do in your home county.

There are thousands of players around the world from countries such as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and England, who all dream of playing pro rugby. Once they have gone as far as they can in their respective countries, they look to Europe. So if you land a contract in a developing rugby nation like Spain, Portugal or Russia train hard, lead the way on the field, play for your team shirt and remember to enjoy yourself away from the pitch too. You will have your ups and downs on the rugby field but don't let this affect how you spend your time enjoying the country and its people.

I had a good reminder of how lucky I am to have rugby as my job the other day.

I played a match over the weekend in which one of the local Spanish lads (17 years old) was playing his début match for our 1^st team. He had grown up over the past couple of years looking up to all the pro players, who where representing his hometown and wearing the 1st team jersey. I looked over at him in the huddle, while our captain was giving his final motivational team talk just seconds before we ran on, and tears where pouring down his cheeks. Tears of pride! That feeling is something we could all do to hold onto.

Ryan le Roux 06/09/2010

Ryan le Roux and rugby in the Costa Blanca, Spain

Its that time of the year again… pre season! After a month of cruising around a very hot Mediterranean coast (a massive benefit which comes with playing pro rugby in Europe) it's back to the office. Or should I say training paddock.

I'm currently playing in the Spanish Top 10 at La Vila rugby club, and have been here for the last 2 years. Pre-season, August and Costa Blanca Coast all has one thing in common …. Heat. The temperature is HOT, getting up to 38 degrees, which makes training all that more interesting.

With preseason comes many changes, including new players, a new team environment and different team structures. The first few weeks are about getting to know each other, throwing around a bit of banter, but most definitely training like we have never trained before. With only 5 weeks to get prepared for our first league match its work, work, work.

We are 4 weeks in and finally my legs have started to stop aching and my muscles seem to understand the reality of hard work as opposed to sitting on the beaches of Sicily. Today is game day! We have a preseason friendly tonight against Alcobendes Madrid (they where promoted to the Spanish top 10 last season) and the excitement/anticipation is building. We have worked really hard on fitness this preseason, bringing in some new training ideas. The vibe between the boys is great and I think everyone is glad to see the end of heavy fitness and to start playing some rugby! It being a friendly there is space to try out our new moves and different combinations. Tonight we will find out where are strengths and weaknesses lie.

- Ryan le Roux