JAMIE HEASLIP WILL lead Leinster into the knockout phase of European Rugby at 3.15pm tomorrow.
Noting the exact kick-off for the quarter-final against Bath is important. Because for the Leinster captain and his team-mates the countdown and preparation to that time has already begun. The measures to ensure players are at the peak of their powers are in full swing.
As Heaslip explained to The42, this means a change to his normal daily diet plan and particularly the amount of carbohydrates that are taken in.
On a normal training day, the number eight limits his carb intake to early meals around training times.
His four-egg omelette (short of two yolks) is furnished with a slice of coconut bread before heads for the door. In his working day he puts himself in the hands of Leinster nutritionist Daniel Davey, not to mention his spinach and avocado filled ‘shakes’ that refuel the players after a training session.
“What benefits me is; after that last training session, be it weights or on the field, consume it then and in between [sessions] up to then. But after that, at dinner say, it doesn’t really happen.”
Dinner on a normal training night for Heaslip consists of roasted vegetables, salad and either chicken or pork loin.
“But with a Saturday game, that [carbohydrates] is increased dramatically at breakfast lunch and dinner and at snacks.
It’s for two reasons: you need to get the energy stores up, and also it helps your uptake and retention of water which, obviously you need to be fully hydrated coming into a game.”
Before his last European outing with his province, Heaslip touched briefly on how an unusual kick-off time would have a sizeable effect on his pre-game routine. The final pool fixture against Wasps in January kicked off at 1pm, meaning an early start to squeeze in meals four hours before hostilities commenced.
“If it’s a 3-5 o’clock kick-off it’s probably a late breakfast then lunch is the pre-match meal four hours out. If it’s an early kick-off like it was against Wasps, it becomes a little bit tougher.
“You don’t want to be feeling that you can’t have as big a breakfast or pre-match meal as you’d like. Because, for me personally, I wouldn’t want to feel as full. So the Wasps game, I had to force myself to get up at 7.30am to have breakfast. Then we ate again at half nine – it was like bolognese and pasta and chicken – at that time of the morning it’s a bit heavy.”
When left to his own devices, outside of the team hotel environment, the Ireland vice captain tells The42 he prefers to ensure he’s well stocked long before the ‘KO minus four hours’ cut-off approaches.
“On a normal day you’d get up it’d be time for breakfast and if it’s a really late kick-off I’d have a little lunch, then four hours out is your pre-match meal. At home it’s always the same for me, it’s always these home-made pancakes I make.
“The day of a game I wouldn’t consume a whole lot. Your reserves are full. Instead of going for a sweet potato or getting a big amount of food into me, I go for easily digestible stuff: that means a lot of fruit, smoothies, whey protein that you can mix into pancakes or smoothies.
“I don’t want to be running around feeling full. Just ‘not hungry’ – that fine line.”
