The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Antananarivo Arms, Madagascar

First topic message reminder :

Hello and welcome to the Antananarivo Arms Virtual Rugby Pub - a place where you can come in for a sly beverage and discuss whatever's on your mind, or just eavesdrop on the regulars if you fancy a break from all the rugby chat.

The Pub has made it's way to Madagascar, where 35,000 raucous fans recently watched the home side upset Namibia in a 110-point thriller.

The only rule in this pub is one of mutual respect for everyone in it, oh and no tampering with the pictures of the Madagascan team war dance, Japan/NRL-bound Sonny-Bill Williams, Bradley Wiggins and the prematurely-retired Mark Boucher above the bar.





Old Pub: https://www.606v2.com/t32066-the-dew-drop-inn-virtual-rugby-pub-oxford

Rava wrote:

Cari wrote:Evening All

Pro12 fixtures out tomorrow...can't wait...then I can start scheming and dreaming...be kind to me ye rugby gods...

Cari, if you are spending hard earned sheckels on a trip to Norn Iron, check with the O's management to make sure they have enough props..................

Pay for my flight and I'll have a run out!!

Good man Prop. I'd pay to watch ya play.

I would as well actually.

To destroy the love-in I wouldn't.

Spoiler:

You are heartless T.

And there was Prop, building up an Irish fan-base.

It's fine Gibbo..........I'll head down to Connacht and get the starting berth before shunting Messer's Court-Best-Botha all over the park!!

Well my props are kinda buillt the American football/Cian Healy way. Athleticisim is a massive part of it, props are not just about scrummaging anymore! Although according to a seasoned prop I was talking to, the hooker's main job is in the scrum, not sure I agree with that.


There hasn't been music played tonight so
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xf-Lesrkuc

Never mind playing Prop. Get yer harris over here for some

Don't worry T i'm more of a slighter built front row forward who loves the breakdown and tackle area!!

Rava...I will one day soon.......with the missus Prop in tow

prop_lyd wrote:It's fine Gibbo..........I'll head down to Connacht and get the starting berth before shunting Messer's Court-Best-Botha all over the park!!

It's Court, Best and Afoa now prop! Get with the programme

Rava wrote:Never mind playing Prop. Get yer harris over here for some

Id recommened that Prop. Have the Rava Tour of Norn-Iron. Breathtaking scenery and large amounts craic, ceoil agus drrrink.

I was covering Munster too I'l rest against leinster...don't want to make Healy and Ross lose their Ireland spots

prop_lyd wrote:Don't worry T i'm more of a slighter built front row forward who loves the breakdown and tackle area!!

Rava...I will one day soon.......with the missus Prop in tow

Well condidering I was never that strong (40/50 kg lift as a hooker at 16 was not great), I relied on speed. You get there first, you don't have to be strong, as far tackling again get there quick, no momentum they fall quick!

WOW! This is incredible viewing. "Im looking at the centre of the Earth glow"

prop_lyd wrote:I was covering Munster too I'l rest against leinster...don't want to make Healy and Ross lose their Ireland spots

Aye, no fear of that!

Exactly....currently i'm 5-10 and weighing 14 1/2 stone......working on explosive upper body strength for the breakdown now and tempted to get a few run outs at 6 too!!

Gibbo...I shall get to N.I at some point again, did Bangor and Belfast with a friend there once before. Gutted that my ma and aunty are going to De Dam soon!!

Should come and get a team into the Seaton beach 7s prop!

Bound to be good craic!


Back in my day i was a rocking lock/back rower. Rock solid muscle , fit as a fiddle till i turned 18 and discovered how much drinking large amounts of beer and eating 100s of take aways affect the body at senior rugby

Driver: I would do but it may cost quite a bit to fly back from America for it!! And have a with us oldies in the pub here!!

I wouldn't have been mad for the takeaways it was the chocolate and general summer eatign that undid me usually. Was never too bad as I usually played 5 a side with my dad during the summer, with the injury I haven't played in a month and there mightn't be a spot for me. Still the first couple of sessions would be torture for everyone but after that they're not too bad!

See I play squash weekly and football for a laugh on mondays...include 2 gym sessions and training for a half marathon and my fitness is improving!!

prop_lyd wrote:Exactly....currently i'm 5-10 and weighing 14 1/2 stone......working on explosive upper body strength for the breakdown now and tempted to get a few run outs at 6 too!!

Gibbo...I shall get to N.I at some point again, did Bangor and Belfast with a friend there once before. Gutted that my ma and aunty are going to De Dam soon!!

Send em to me pal. I'll mind em. Some space-cake and then a tour of the Red-Light. Just what they need.

Im jokin roysh.

I'm a kid when it comes to take aways , got obsessed when i was 16/17 with going to the gym and because i was eating more crap than usual i was going to the gym more to keep fit for rugby.

It's not a proper pre-season unless you throw it all up!

Come close recently driver!!

Haha Gibbo...............I think i'll save that for when I come over

I'm in the clear for next few weeks , still working on building on the muscle back in my upper back and neck with the Physio so i miss out on the horrid down 'n' ups and shuttle runs.

Driver you are 20. Still time big guy. Eat proper food.

I want all MCd's, KFC's and Coke (cola) factories blown up.

Its poison.

Chrissie Hynde (who?), said that at at concert in Madrid once. Some eejit went and did blow one up. She had to apologise and retract. I think it choked her to do it.

Clear it up i'm not playing again but just joining in with pre-season.

I do eat junk food every now and again and drink good ole it's just abou discipline really...........so Driver does this mean you can play again? Awesome bud!!
Ah just read yhe above...........still better than nothing!!

No i can't play again , it's just the fitness side of things. Keeping the kite under control lol.

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:I'm a kid when it comes to take aways , got obsessed when i was 16/17 with going to the gym and because i was eating more crap than usual i was going to the gym more to keep fit for rugby.

It's not a proper pre-season unless you throw it all up!

That's usually my goal, and I have avoided it so far in my life so will keep it up hopefully. I was never a big Gym guy, found it boring and I was a bit lazy, I could have and probably should be stronger than I am but sure stuff happens, trying to improve a bit not doing lot of too heavy stuff, but trying to do it in a very short space of time, so it's not just about building strength it's about exercise too, helps burn calories and the like.

I think it's boring if i'm honest , it's just i always got told i needed to be fitter and bigger if i wanted to play a higher level of rugby. Highest level of rugby i got to was Durham U20s.

To be honest I enjoy the gym as a stress reliever.......never really looked to get massive just a bit stronger.....not that fussed on the whole showy arms etc, would rather just be able to hold my own in the scrum and breakdown.

It's good if you'v had a pants day , let's you relax a fair bit.

I'm trying to keep fit for my conquest of Middlesbourgh transporter bridge in August! You make recognise the bridge from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Billy Elliot. 170ft high and i'm going to climb to the top of it!!!

For those who haven't seen it

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=transporter+bridge+middlesbrough&num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=R1o8IkH3v3eE-M:&imgrefurl=http://www.freefoto.com/preview/1050-08-19/Transporter-Bridge--Middlesbrough&docid=6hI1Rg3KbQu-lM&imgurl=http://www.freefoto.com/images/1050/08/1050_08_19---Transporter-Bridge--Middlesbrough_web.jpg&w=600&h=400&ei=GJ38T7DyL_CL4gT8sLHyBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=163&vpy=190&dur=640&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=166&ty=112&sig=102155416673106391221&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=161&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:72

prop_lyd wrote:To be honest I enjoy the gym as a stress reliever.......never really looked to get massive just a bit stronger.....not that fussed on the whole showy arms etc, would rather just be able to hold my own in the scrum and breakdown.

Samesies I'm all about the ABS though.

Discovered today that there's a type of chicken in tescos you can put into the toaster. What's the world coming too...

WillyGilly wrote:

prop_lyd wrote:To be honest I enjoy the gym as a stress reliever.......never really looked to get massive just a bit stronger.....not that fussed on the whole showy arms etc, would rather just be able to hold my own in the scrum and breakdown.

Samesies I'm all about the ABS though.

Discovered today that there's a type of chicken in tescos you can put into the toaster. What's the world coming too...

Didn't realise you focused on the breaking systems of today!!

To be honest i'm now doing 50 press ups, 130 sit ups (of different styles) and the plank every morning and eve......doing it for a month so far just want results to come soon!!

Willy, there's stuff in America that you wouldn't believe. From boilded Hot Dogs, to Toasted Twinkies, it's insane,

Good man Driver! Here have a .... actually better not you're in training, I'll drink that one .

I used to prefer training to actually playing.... me and my mates used to head down to this bodybuilder gym when we were only about 14, we hadn't a clue... 1st time we tried the bench press my mate lowered the bar onto his face and couldn't get it up again, we didn't notice for a couple of minutes because we were chatting instead of spotting....he couldn't call us because the bar was across his jaw...

Great days.

I'm currently trying to get back into playing rugby atm. The fitness aspect is a real pain, but I'm also trying to go about it the right way. That sort of power endurance, anaerobic fitness needed rather than the constant speed jogging stuff. I used to be one of the fittest players on my team, at least in terms of hitting pretty much every ruck and made a massive amount of tackles each game (I was a 6/7). However, when it came to getting the ball I was just too tired to actually sprint through anyone or exhibit that much power. Which is a lot more beneficial than just jogging from ruck to ruck.

However, anytime I did try to take a break from the rucks and play with ball in hand more, our ruck suffered. Nobody else did it flip sake. I will make sure not to make the same mistakes in my next club!

Anyway, what do you guys do for fitness? Not the weight room stuff, but endurance.

I love building strength/power more than anything. I am one of those weirdos who gets a real kick out of a nice heavy squat. I can't wait to get into the proper olympic lifting routine as well, after I get myself a lifting platform and bumper plates.

However like I said, I really need to work on the fitness. I have gained about 10kgs in 4 months or so, bit too much.

Rory, I do different things. Squash is fantastic for speed and 45min stamina. I also do some interval training, hill sprints and long distance......to be honest my favourite form of running is a 6-8 mile run at a steady pace with some nasty climbs and aim to do it in under 9min miles.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:I'm currently trying to get back into playing rugby atm. The fitness aspect is a real pain, but I'm also trying to go about it the right way. That sort of power endurance, anaerobic fitness needed rather than the constant speed jogging stuff. I used to be one of the fittest players on my team, at least in terms of hitting pretty much every ruck and made a massive amount of tackles each game (I was a 6/7). However, when it came to getting the ball I was just too tired to actually sprint through anyone or exhibit that much power. Which is a lot more beneficial than just jogging from ruck to ruck.

However, anytime I did try to take a break from the rucks and play with ball in hand more, our ruck suffered. Nobody else did it flip sake. I will make sure not to make the same mistakes in my next club!

Anyway, what do you guys do for fitness? Not the weight room stuff, but endurance.

100- 120m shuttle runs, tough as feic but great for fitness. Rugby is a game where you stop and start (on the deck etc) so the transition from static to sprint is a big factor.

If its pure fitness for rugby you want your recOvery time to be kept to a minimum , I used to do 6 minutes full pelt on a exercise bike 1 minute half Pace and repeat that over a hour do the same thing after on swimming simulators fits the pace of the game and adapts your body to it.

Rory,

I love lifting big weights , I can leg press 160kg which is pretty mad considering I weigh about 15st

Yeah I'm trying to do that sort of stuff. However isn't 100-120m shuttles pretty extreme?

Driver.......leg press is my fav machine!! I simply say the whole crouch, touch.....and then smash it!

At the moment in training we're doing 3x400m and 3x200m timed sprints with less and less rest in between!!

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:If its pure fitness for rugby you want your recOvery time to be kept to a minimum , I used to do 6 minutes full pelt on a exercise bike 1 minute half Pace and repeat that over a hour do the same thing after on swimming simulators fits the pace of the game and adapts your body to it.

Rory,

I love lifting big weights , I can leg press 160kg which is pretty mad considering I weigh about 15st

Nice one, I've never leg pressed before. When I say heavy squats, I do mean heavy for me though, probably light for anyone else.

Considering I was unable to walk at the end of the summer, I'm happy enough with my progress.

It is pretty tough alright, but it's the kind of running a top backrow (or athletic hooker ) does. Haven't done it for a while as I tore my hamstring a month ago, have only been going at stuff 70% since last week.

Rory I'm a big believer that a good aerobic fitness base is the foundation for every sport (Bruce Lee said it), yes I know the science and that rugby is very anaerobic but if you don't have a decent aerobic base and lactate threshold then all the shuttle runs and anaerobic work won't be as effective.

If you can run for 40minutes at a good pace, especially on hilly terrain you'll have a good fitness base and recover much quicker even doing sprint work and even strength work. That might be bollix but I believe it to be true.

Speed up going up hill and slow down going down hill to recover.

Ritchie McCaw is big into his aerobic stuff aparantly.

It doesn't look that way though when you really see the top level guys going at it. Usually they would make a tackle or a run at full power/pace, and then they are at the bottom of a ruck for about 10-20 seconds, then they get back into the line if they are defending, or track the ball on attack. I saw a table once of how much sprinting, walking, slow jogging and fast jogging is done by each player, and the sprinting is less than 5 percent. Most of it was slow jogging.

You might find this interesting, though it is more about football conditioning rather than rugby. Quite similar though:

http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask-joe-test/42-speedplyometricsconditioning/199-football-conditioning-the-right-way.html

DeFranco is pretty famous in America for coaching football players in S&C.

Yeah Rodders that's what I do....we've got a killer hill by me here so i go fast up it twice and slow down it, it equates to about a 4 1/2 mile run too!!

rodders wrote:Rory I'm a big believer that a good aerobic fitness base is the foundation for every sport (Bruce Lee said it), yes I know the science and that rugby is very anaerobic but if you don't have a decent aerobic base and lactate threshold then all the shuttle runs and anaerobic work won't be as effective.

If you can run for 40minutes at a good pace, especially on hilly terrain you'll have a good fitness base and recover much quicker even doing sprint work and even strength work. That might be bollix but I believe it to be true.

Speed up going up hill and slow down going down hill to recover.

Ritchie McCaw is big into his aerobic stuff aparantly.

I'm not sure I agree mate. Check this out, myth 7.

http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/63-ten-training-myths-exposed.html

Shuttles, can allow for small breaks, most sprints aimed at rugby should incorporate you rolling or getting up off thee ground or jog into a sprint. Your train like that it should help you get that explosive sprint.