OLYMPIC dreams caught the imagination of Gloucester Rugby's stars yesterday as they swapped the training field for the volleyball court.

Gloucestershire's beach volleyball star Jody Gooding might be gearing up for an assault on London 2012 but he took time out from his hectic training schedule to put the Cherry and Whites through their paces.

The Churchdown star, along with partner and fellow beach volleyball player Denise Johns, handed Luke Narraway, Freddie Burns and Jonny May a crash course in their sport's basics.

Former St Peter's High School pupil Gooding is a lifelong Gloucester fan and will be at Kingsholm for the Boxing Day clash with Wasps.

Gloucester skipper Narraway relished the chance to try something new – but admits he is not in a position to be mulling over a change of discipline.

The 28-year-old said: "We had fun trying something different and to see whether any skills cross over. But I think these guys are a lot more athletic in the air than us.

"Teamwork and hand-eye coordination elements cross over but I don't think any of us will be troubling the Team GB selectors.

"It's great to see a Gloucester fan and St Peter's boy doing so well and we can't wait to see him fight for that Olympic spot."

Winger May enjoyed a chance to sample a new sport.

He said: "It's a brand new sport for us and a good chance to try something different and it was a good laugh.

"After a long day's training it was interesting to get an insight into a very technical and challenging sport."

Fly-half Burns enjoyed the light-hearted competition as the Gloucester trio took on Gooding and Johns in an impromptu match – with mixed results.

He joked: "We pushed them all the way there, or maybe not!

"I could hardly even jump higher than the net so there's no chance for me in this sport, but we definitely had good fun.

"I remember running into Jody when I was at Bath and he was training at the uni, and we'd bump into each other at six in the morning.

"A sport like beach volleyball doesn't get quite the attention of some other sports but it doesn't mean any less work goes into it.

"So it's great to catch up and we wish him and Denise all the best going forward to the Olympics."

Gooding came through the same year at St Peter's as a certain Adam Eustace, and like so many in this county learned his rugby from Dave Pointon.

Impressed with the Gloucester boys' immediate volleyball aptitude, Gooding said they definitely exhibited some transferable skills.

He said: "I like seeing other athletes learning the difficult details of the sport.

"It's tough to grasp the skills required for elite level.

"You could see Freddie being the playmaker has great hand-eye coordination and Jonny, if he were taught how to jump for volleyball he would be handy, and Luke had very good skills and hand-eye work too.

"The first time I ever played rugby was at St Peter's, because I'd only played football before.

"I didn't know anything about it really, so I just got the ball and punted it over the posts.

"Dave was going spare because he couldn't understand how I didn't know what a drop-goal was!

"I was quite small back then so played on the wing. People tell me I'd be useful at lock now, but I can't afford to play any rugby obviously."

Gooding heads to Los Angeles on January 8 before his season starts in Rio in April.

Three months' pre-season represents a big stride nearer the Olympics.

"It's a tough regime but it's got to be and I'm really excited," he added.