Boot camp regime gets Jamie fit for active service
NICK CAIN TALKS TO JAMIE GEORGE ABOUT HIS IN SATIABLE DRIVE FOR PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENT
JAMIE George knew what was coming and prepared accordingly during his summer break by putting on his hair-shirt and heading for the sweat-shop. You could have forgiven the England and 2017 Lions Test hooker if he had gone on a hedonistic five-week binge after landing a European and domestic double with Saracens, especially as his brilliant twotry masterclass in the Premiership final victory over Exeter confirmed him as one of the best front row forwards on the planet.
However, even though George would have relished making club-mate Alex Goode's three day bender after the north London club's European Cup final win over Leinster look like a tea party, there was too much at stake.
He had worked far too hard for a shot of World Cup glory with England in Japan this autumn to jeopardise it, including waiting for years in the queue behind Dylan Hartley in the Red Rose pecking order, and likewise behind Springbok hookers John Smit and Schalk Brits at Saracens.
So, after a couple of weeks rest and recreation with his partner, George took himself off to a high performance centre in Portugal's Algarve, and with Stephen Gerrard and the Rangers squad also in residence, put himself through his own boot camp to ensure he was as fit as a butcher's dog before checking into the England training camp a few days ago.
George explained why, among other things, he was not tempted to follow Goode's method of post-match relaxation: “That's a life lesson I've learned the hard way – never take a leaf out of Alex Goode's book! Look, you've got to have a good blow-out after doing something like that, you've got to enjoy it – and we did enjoy it. But quite quickly your focus turns to what's next, and that's why I went to train by myself.”
The conversation then shifts from team banter to that of a 28-year-old rugby pro on a once-in-a-lifetime mission, and it is why the barrel-chested hooker has never looked in better shape.
“I feel like I have to be, otherwise, especially body composition-wise, I don't feel I'm coming in in the right condition. This might be my last opportunity at a World Cup, and I want to make sure I'm in the best condition I possibly can be, so that when I come into camp I can then take it to another level.”
George does not hide the fact that the level he is talking about is that of world champions, and he explains why he believes it is attainable: “We have got an incredible playing group with the hunger and desire to be the best team in the world, and we have had that plan for the last four years. Now it's time for us to show it.”
George says his motivation comes from deep within following his apprenticeship behind England coach Eddie Jones' ‘foundation' captain Hartley, and before that having to bide his time at Saracens behind former Springbok World Cup-winning captain Smit and the mercurial Brits.
George recalls: “When it first happened at Saracens behind John and Schalk it was difficult.” However, he says he had his father, Ian, a former Northampton and London Welsh scrum-half who was on the England bench nine times without winning a cap, as an all-important sounding board.
“I talked to the people whose opinions mattered to me the most, especially my old man. He said you've got to use this time, there's no point just moping, or you will get an opportunity at some stage through injury and you might not be ready – so be ready, and do everything you possibly can.
“This might be my last opportunity at a World Cup, and I want to make sure I'm in the best condition I can be”
“I'm now in a position where I play every weekend, but that year I wasn't playing too much other than on Monday night. So I thought I'm going to get in the best physical condition I possibly can be, I'm going to improve my line-out throwing, and improve every aspect of my game – and it allowed me time to do that.
“Although it was frustrating for a bit it was right for the team, and I had to be ready to make the most of any opportunity I was given, whether it was three minutes off the bench or 30.
“I made a role for myself coming off the bench, because it is important that you increase the energy levels (when you come on), and in order to do that I had to be fit and improve my skill set. I put myself under pressure to do that, and I'm now reaping the rewards by being given the opportunity to start.”
George won his first 19 of his 37 England caps off the bench before supplanting the injury-hit Hartley on a consistent basis for the first time during this year's Six Nations, when he started all five Tests. Ask George how that felt and he blows the modern mantra that players do not care too much whether they are starters or ‘finishers', out of the water.
“Amazing. I knew it was going to be a great opportunity for me, and I wanted to put myself under pressure to perform at that level. I was happy with the way that I went during the Six Nations, but obviously for the team it was a little more mixed. From a personal point of view I feel I took a step forward, and I feel that was the base level – and now I want to take it light years away from where I was then.”
George does not say so, but his frustration must have reached fever pitch after he was selected for the 2017 Lions tour while Hartley was passed over by Warren Gatland, playing in all three Tests of the drawn series after being picked ahead of Ireland's Rory Best and Wales' Ken Owens.
Yet, despite that achievement, Hart ley remained Jones' chosen man until he decided to shuffle the selection deck in January. George, who is very much a glass half-full character, focuses instead on the positives he took from the Lions experience.
“Just working daily with the best player in Britain and Ireland is pretty special, but from a personal point of view it also gave me the confidence that ‘I'm good enough to do this – I can thrive in this environment'. Hopefully, my performances now show that I'm a much better player than I was in 2017. It was an amazing opportunity for me, and made me believe that I could kick on and make an impact on the international stage.
That confidence has been apparent in The way that George was one of the leading figures in Saracens triumphal march, and it begs the question whether he would consider the England captaincy if an injury ruled out Owen Farrell.
“I enjoy captaincy, and the responsibility does not faze me, but it's not something I desperately want”
George's response is measured: “Of course it would appeal, but I think we've got some pretty brilliant leaders here – and I'm not sure that I'm too high up in the hierarchy. I have captained a lot of teams in the past, at age group and at Saracens. I enjoy it, and the responsibility does not faze me, but it's not something I desperately want. If the opportunity came, it would obviously be a big honour, but I don't think that it's something we need to worry about any time soon.”
He adds that because hookers are key decision-makers at the scrum and lineout they are already leaders in their own domain.
“Especially around the scrum you have got to be a leader, and that's one area of my game that has developed a lot recently. I'm enjoying that side of it, especially as Saracens have a pretty decent scrum. We know that the importance of having a dominant set-piece in this World Cup is going to be there, so hopefully we can take a lot of that mentality and use the amazing players we have in the squad and gel together to create our own England identity.”
George accepts, however, that England's identity was not where he wanted it to be at the end of a season in which they showed that inconsistency is still the biggest impediment to their world champion ambitions. So, what does he consider the biggest lessons were from the losses to New Zealand and Wales, and the second-half crash against Scotland?
“You can't take your foot off the throat – which was true of all three of those games. Relentlessness is a word that gets bandied about a lot, but those games showed that you have to be relentless in international rugby. You can't take your foot off for one second because they are all quality teams, and if you give them an inch they will take a yard. Whoever they are in international rugby, it doesn't matter who you are up against, they are all the best players in their country, and the room for error is so slim.”
By the same token George believes fervently that at their best England can win the 2019 World Cup – and that, contrary to criticism that he flogs his players too hard, Jones and his coaching crew know how to get them to peak at the right time.
“They are very clever when it comes to pushing us when we need to be pushed, but then also pulling it back a little bit. Eddie and his team are very good at having a feel of what we need – all that Eddie asks for is that we give it everything we possibly can… but then there's a number of times when we're flying into each other and having a brilliant session, and Eddie will blow his whistle and say, ‘I've seen enough'. Even though it's scheduled for another hour and a half, he just says, ‘you're ready'.”
In Jamie George's case that observation could not be more accurate.
JAMIE GEORGE ON…
…How much the position of hooker has changed during his career
A huge amount, and I think it was always going to because it is a bit of a hybrid position. A lot of people say it's like a fourth back row position.
The fundamentals are still the same in so far as if you don't get your set piece right there's no point in you being on the field. You have to drive the standards in terms of the setpiece, and that's why you have to be a leader as hooker, but the days where you could just be a set-piece hooker are gone. If that's all you are you will get left behind with the pace and intensity of the game.
Hooker is now about getting the ball in your hands in wide channels where you have to do something with it, and you also have to put yourself in positions to make a lot more tackles than previously.
…Whether traditional hookers still exist
I don't think you'll ever find out what a traditional hooker is anymore. You look at South Africa's Malcolm Marx and he is completely different to New Zealand's Dane Coles – and I'm completely different to both of those guys, and Wales No.2 Ken Owens is different again.
…Surprised by the way the Scots got an inch and took a mile
I was impressed by the way they did it. But again another lesson is that momentum is a huge thing in rugby, and that it's so hard to change momentum either way. The important thing for us is to make sure that we are the team that has momentum, and once we have the momentum not to let it come off easily through indiscipline, or switch-off moments.
…Peaking at the right time, whether it's England or Saracens
It's difficult. You've got to have a good team behind you. There's a lot of science behind being physically ready at the right time, with strength and conditioning staff getting us right, but also the squad has to have the right mindset.
There's a huge number of variables, but you don't worry about them too much. That's something we do really well at Sarries, to make sure that we are very focused and very clear going into each opportunity we have, whether it's a game or a training session. That's replicated here with England very well.
World Cups are a bit different because we are together for two or three months to train together beforehand.
…If Saracens' double-winning team benefits England, or is it separate?
It's definitely separate, but a lot of the Saracens guys are leaders in this England team, and leaders in the Saracens team, and I think that's a huge positive for us. But we have also got leaders from Exeter, which is a very successful team, and some hugely experienced international players as well.
…Can you have too many leaders within a team?
Yes, but it's becoming pretty obvious who the leaders are now. What the leaders are good at is using the people with experience, and some of those who don't have it, to give us the information.
…The intensity of the England training camp compared to Saracens?
The advantage is that we sleep here. We have large breaks during the day, so we might have four hours after we've trained. You've got no distractions, you can go and do weights, or you can go and see the physio at nine at night, which you couldn't do at home.
International rugby is more intense, it's the nature of the beast. You have to prepare yourself for that physically, because it's built around that philosophy.
…Whether his physio business as an interest outside rugby helps him?
I have always been a strong believer in having another interest, whether it's study or starting up your own business, like “Carter and George”. I was always encouraged by my parents to have a life outside – and the Saracens philosophy is very much like at. If you have something outside the game it allows you to switch off, and then when it is your time to focus you can give it absolutely everything rather than drift through it.
Sometimes this job is pretty stressful, and when you have to focus all your attention on running the business you get a chance to switch off. I'm not a physio, but I'm there on the management and business development side, and rather than having one clinic in London we are trying to push the brand and have as many as possible.
That's my role, and I get a bit of treatment and use the gym a lot in the off-season.
