James Haskell: England Back Row
Q & A
Firstly, congratulations on your recent move to Stade Francais. It’s quite a move for you; what do you want to achieve from the season ahead?
Thank you - I think it’s a big move for me. My only priority at the moment is to play for Stade Francais, which is effectively starting my career again in a different country. I just want to get better as a player and work hard and I’ve got to do that with good performances for Stade Francais. Anything else will come if I play well for them.
Do you speak French?
Petit Peu? (Laughs).
Yeah, I do speak a little. I did three-and-a-half hours a day, every day for two weeks. Then I had a few one-on-one lessons and now that I am in Paris, I’ll be having three-hour lessons every day, apart from Wednesdays.
Looking beyond next season, what are your longer-term rugby ambitions?
It’s very difficult in rugby to look any further than tomorrow, really. At the end of the day, because you can get an injury at any moment, you’ve just got to focus on some of the short-term goals. Obviously, long-term, I’d like to emulate some of the more successful guys who I played with at Wasps and England. You know, to be talked about as a great rugby player, get myself back into the national team and be first choice on the team-sheet.
You’re now starting a new chapter in your career. What stands out as your career highlight so far?
Well, obviously playing for Wasps. I’ve been very lucky to play in quite a few finals. I think winning the Heineken Cup was an amazing experience, but also starting a Guinness Premiership final and beating Leicester was pretty much up there as well.
Was that the best match you played in?
Yeah, I think so. Making my England debut was very special as well. Playing for England was always a dream of mine.
Other than rugby, do you have any other sporting interests or hobbies?
When I get time I’m into Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at the moment. I never did it as a kid but I’m really enjoying learning a totally different sport. I also enjoy shooting. I’ve just got my firearms licence, so I’m fully licensed up! Can’t believe they gave me one (laugh). But other than that, most of my time is given up to doing extra training and seeing Margot Wells (sprint training coach) when I am back in the UK.
You mentioned Margot Wells. How has she helped you?
Margot’s had a massive influence on me. She’s worked with some of the best rugby players in the world, like Lawrence Dallaglio and Dan Luger. And obviously her husband won an Olympic gold medal. So she’s got a wealth of experience with speed and power training that I try to take on board. She’s helped me feel much more athletic and it’s helped increase my performance on the pitch.
What does a typical day’s training look like for you?
We wake up at 7.45am, leave at 8.15am to be at training for 9am at the Stade Jean Bouin. There we have two and a half hours of hardcore rugby training and fitness drills every morning (including some hideously hard conditioning work), then two hours for lunch before weights in the afternoon. And depending on the schedule we might have more fitness sessions thrown in at the end of the day for good measure. My day culminates with an hour off then a three hour French lesson. Whenever I can I will be nipping back across on the Eurostar to see Margot for more training and do as much MMA as I can at London Shootfighters.
What parts of training do you like or dislike?
I enjoy the rugby-orientated stuff like the core skills focus, working on the individual areas of the game, the tackling and passing. The bits I don’t like, as a player, are the conditioning and the fitness work. I had to run as fast as I could for two miles on the treadmill the other day -I did it in 11 minutes 45 and I thought I was going to die.
What aspect of fitness is most important to you, as a back-rower?
My role requires me to tackle, hold the ball, and carry to link play. I’ve got little elements of everybody else’s game in mine, so I’m a big believer the fitter you are, the better your game.
So, how do you train to become more powerful and stronger?
Again, there are different approaches, but it’s mainly plyometrics and power-based weights as well as some MMA. When wrestling, body rotation and the ability to transfer force comes down to technique. So yeah, I try to cover power and strength training in different ways and embrace all elements of it because I don’t think you can do one session and become a superstar overnight - you’ve got to constantly work and keep changing your protocol.
How important is recovery to you and what is your recovery regime?
Recovery is massively important and, as well as ice baths (!), it starts with eating and drinking the right things. Lucozade Sport do a fantastic range of recovery drinks and bars that are ideal when my body is crying out for carbohydrates and protein.
You’ve already spoken about some Lucozade Sport products. In the past what role has sports nutrition played for you?
Sports nutrition has played a big role in my career. Eating a good diet is the key and Lucozade Sport helps gives me that that extra edge.
How important is protein to you?
Massively! I try and get as much as I can from food but sometimes that’s just not possible. Training more than five times a week means eating and drinking the right things is vital and Lucozade Sport Pro Muscle powders give me the protein needed post workouts.
Looking at the Lucozade Sport range, one of the key selling points is their contaminant testing procedure. How important is that for you as an elite athlete?
Because drug testing is so rigorous now, and with lots of athletes failing drugs tests in recent years, you have to really look at the supplements you use. By using Lucozade Sport contaminant-tested products, I know that I’m helping to safely improve my performance
A big thank you to James for taking the time to talk to us. We wish him the best of luck in France with his new club Stade Français.
James Haskell Fact File
Bio:
Club: Stade Français
Position: Flanker
Age: 24
Born: Windsor
Height: 1.93m (6’ 4”)
Weight: 113kg (17st 6lbs)
International caps: 19
Honours:
2009
• England RBS 6 Nations
• England v Argentina
2008
• England Autumn Internationals
• England RBS 6 Nations
• England v Wales
2007
• England v Saxons, Italy, Scotland, Ireland & NZ Maoris
• England RBS 6 Nations
• England – Wales & France
2005/06
• England Sevens Dubai & George
• England XV
• England U21s Six Nations and World Championships
• Young England Sevens
2003/04
• England U19s
• England U18s