With the Premiership Rugby and United Rugby Championship seasons now behind us and clubs looking ahead to a new season on the horizon, we've caught up with some of our partners on the key nutritional learnings they’ll be taking with them into 2022/23. From supplementation strategy to how they’ve successfully engaged players with nutrition over the past year, we’ve got the lowdown on what tactics some of the giants of elite rugby in the UK will be employing once pre-season hits... 

Gloucester Rugby – James Hudson, Performance Nutritionist 

When reflecting upon what has been another thoroughly enjoyable but challenging season in rugby, I find myself focussing on which elements make the most impact for players. Every time I ask a younger member of the squad what our best interaction has been, the answer is cooking.   

I have found over the past season that our players have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to create dishes that really help to benefit them nutritionally, and - most of all – they've loved the sense of achievement that motivates them to keep trying new dishes and flavours. One positive hangover from the pandemic has been the use of video sessions to get as many involved as possible in this activity, but there is also no replacement for being hands-on in the kitchen with athletes. As we are allowed to interact in person more again, my reflection is to program more of this throughout next season and consistently use it as a vehicle to educate and empower athletes with the nutrition knowledge they need to support their own performances. 

Newcastle Falcons - Kevin McShane, Head of Athletic Performance 

Our nutrition approach for players, both over the past season and moving forward, has focused on three main areas: ensuring they get quality protein each day; adapting nutrition strategies daily to meet energy demands and resistance training stimulus to build/ maintain physique. Working together, these three strategies ensure that our players are adequately fuelled for the requirements of both training and game play, maximising performances through good quality nutrition tactics; something we’ll be taking through into the 2022/23 season.  

We also ensure that we, as practitioners, regularly monitor these strategies to make sure they’re working effectively; something that will play another key role throughout the upcoming season. Using a combination of skinfolds, body mass and DEXA scanning to help tailor the squad’s nutrition and training, we analyse results for each player to ensure that we are helping them achieve their bodyweight and lean mass goals. The ultimate aim is, of course, to maximise their performances on the field, something which is an ever evolving process. 

Glasgow Warriors - Tom Coughlin, Performance Nutritionist at Scottish Rugby 

Glasgow warriors have an engrained food-first approach to performance nutrition and we always ensure that there are excellent quality food options available to players for fuelling and recovery. However, they may not always be the most efficient or preferred choice amongst players, which is where partnering with Nutrition X has been crucial to how Glasgow Warriors has operated on a day-to-day basis over the past season.  

Having products like Nutrition X’s Big Whey, Pro X Bars and Creatine Monohydrate available for players to use means they can always have high-quality protein available to aid the recovery and refuelling process. Players will tend to use Nutrition X’s Big Whey within a fruit-based smoothie, or use a high protein yoghurt.  

Where Nutrition X adds an additional layer of value is within our injury management strategies. Supplementing with additional protein sources like Pro X bars or Big Whey can be extremely useful for this purpose. Creatine monohydrate may also aid the players in mitigating loss of lean mass. In unique injuries, the timely provision of collagen may aid rehabilitation. This is where Nutrition X’s Repair Shot has been a game changer for the industry. For severe injuries such as ligament tears, Repair Shots can add significant value to our rehabilitation strategy whilst keeping things simple, efficient and practical for our players. 

Bath Rugby – Mike Bache, Executive Chef 

Food development is an ever-present area of focus for me and has played a crucial role over the past season, as well as looking ahead to the next. My role involves a lot of recipe development, mainly to keep food exciting whilst still fuelling performance. I also look a lot at how to incorporate supplements into recipes to boost certain nutritional credentials, like using Big Whey Vanilla protein to flavour our vanilla and cranberry overnight oats; a key recipe we’ve turned to throughout the past season. This kind of incorporation of protein into a morning meal makes for a balanced start for the players, and can also be used as a snack for those who need to keep their calorie intake high. This focus on integrating supplements into our meal plans will continue into next season, as well as ensuring meals for the players are tasty, interesting and – above all – nutritionally sound!