Earlier this year, three of the most promising young talents in the Scottish game were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse themselves in New Zealand rugby and culture as joint recipients of this season’s prestigious John Macphail Scholarship.
Among those sharing their expertise will be Todd Blackadder, the one-time All Black captain and Edinburgh player/head coach, ex-New Zealand prop Dave Hewett, who followed Blackadder to the Scottish capital and then back to Canterbury, and Daryl Gibson, the one-time Glasgow Warriors centre who is now an assistant coach with the south island franchise.
www.edinburghrugby.org caught up with elite development lock, Grant Gilchrist, who travelled out with stand-off/centre Harry Leonard and hooker George Turner, to spend 18 weeks in Christchurch, playing for local clubs and benefiting from the high-end facilities and coaching offered by the Canterbury RFU International High Performance Unit.
ON THE PITCH – I think this is a pretty appropriate starting point!
Training – When I arrived in New Zealand I was still in re-hab, recovering from my ankle fracture which was hugely frustrating, as I was unable to take part fully in any sessions until week three.
Despite not being able to play I developed and learned to manage and control my own rehab sessions and re-introduction to rugby from a long term injury, with advice and help from physios and strength and conditioners.
I had to take control and had much less actual time with the physio (surprisingly Dan Carter’s hamstring and Ritchie McCaw’s foot come a bit before my ankle!) but at training I spent a lot of time studying the sessions and taking notes.
During the time injured I also did a lot of video analysis work for the team and gave feedback to the coaches and players in team meetings and at half-time during matches. I also worked hard at my fitness and strength by putting in the hard work with extra sessions with the strength and conditioners and in my own time so I was fit and ready to perform when my ankle recovered.
Following my return to full training in week three I was faced with a few challenges related to my ankle in rugby, the main two being the lack of “spring” in my ankle, which impacted my lineout jumping and agility and my confidence and ability to change direction quickly.
I addressed these problems by adding single leg hops and plyometric jumps into my rehab and gym programs, having extra agility/speed sessions with the physios and strength and conditioners, as well as adding extra one-on-one footwork drills to the rugby sessions.
With all this extra work, and two full training weeks under my belt, I had improved massively in these areas and my confidence in my ankle was close to 100%.
Since my return to playing, a big emphasis has been put on reviewing my game in detail with the help of the coaches and mentor Sam Whitelock to determine a clear action plan. I fill this information in weekly onto an online document which is added to and edited by my coaches and is viewed by coaches back home.
In New Zealand there are the six pillars of excellence – technical, tactical, physical, mental, nutritional, and holistic/leadership which I’ve been working on extensively since my time here.
I’ve now played five times for Lincoln University since recovering from my ankle injury and feel I’ve got back to full match fitness/sharpness and am improving on all identified aspects of my game each week.
Vs Burnside (George Hunter’s team!) – 60 minutes in the wettest game I have ever played in!
Vs University of Canterbury – 30 minutes game time with the highlights shown on SKY SPORTS
Vs HSOB (High School Old Boys) – 40 minutes
Vs Christchurch – 80 minutes (first full match since early January – very tiring but played well)
Vs Sydenham – 80 minutes (Sam Whitelock returned from his ankle injury so I was able to play in the second-row with my mentor which was a great experience)
OFF-FIELD EXPERIENCES – This once in a lifetime trip has not been all about rugby and, while it’s clearly been the priority, I feel that have faced many challenges off the pitch which have made me a stronger person and personality. Going to the other side of the world and living with complete strangers (made easy by how friendly and welcoming my host family are), turning up at a new club and fitting in well (this was a real challenge at first as I was injured and didn’t feel involved but since my return to full training and playing I am now part of the team and get on really well with all the boys). We socialise regularly as a team which is great for getting to know people. I feel like I’m making friends for life.
Being apart from friends and family for such a long time has been pretty hard at times but we are so busy and concentrating hard on our rugby the time is flying by. Also, with Skype, you are able to stay close to people back home.
In Christchurch people’s lives have been so badly affected by the earthquake. There is so much damage around the place. I’m lucky that the area I live, and rugby park I play and train on (Crusaders and Canterbury training facility), weren’t badly affected so everything is pretty normal in that sense, although when you go into town and look at the damage it really hits home hard that the central city is in ruins (and pretty scary).
Everyone here has such a good, positive attitude towards it (seeing the opportunity to re-build the city better than it was before). The people of Christchurch are going to have a big say in the big re-build and are getting on with their lives as normally as possible. Before my arrival in Christchurch I didn’t expect to experience any aftershocks at all, never mind how frequently they still are! I’m slowly getting used to them and slept through a fairly big one the other week. Got a few scares from them early in the trip though!
Other off the field experiences included a campervan trip to Nelson to watch the Crusaders v Highlanders game. We also spent time in Kaikoura (a stunning sea side town on the east coast of the south island) and on the way home stopped off at Maruia natural springs in the middle of the Southern Alps (which was very relaxing in the breathtaking surroundings). We also managed to get cheap flights to Queenstown for the bank holiday weekend just past. It was such a cool place with loads to do, we had an awesome time – although I wasn’t as keen as the others and was very scared when I did the Shotover Canyon Swing (the world’s highest cliff jump which is 109m high and 60m of freefall before you swing out through the canyon!). It was an unreal experience and I’m so glad I did it!
Conclusion – I hope I have given you a good insight into the first half of this fantastic opportunity given to me by the McPhail family. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am.
The Macphail Scholarship, now in its seventh year, was established in memory of former Scotland hooker John Macphail, who died in 2004. In Macphail’s business career, he was chief executive, then chairman, of the Edrington Group, a private company that is owned by the Robertson Trust.
