Chapter 41

I walked into the interview room. There were three guys, two men and one woman, on the other side of a huge table. One of them I knew. He had played in the UK premier league for a couple of years and he had played for The Canadian national team. I had never played against him as he was playing before I made the first team.

They introduced themselves to me as Ron Snow, Dan Winston, and Kelly Sorrel. It was obvious that Dan was in charge of the meeting. He was the chairman.

They offered me a glass of water or coffee before asking me to sit down. The lady that had shown me into the room poured me a glass of water and sat to one side, it was obvious she was there to take notes.

The panel then asked me questions on my life before rugby, and then questions about my rugby career. One of them asked about my thoughts on rugby values and inclusiveness in the game.

I did my best to answer all the questions. All three of the interview panel seemed to be coming from different angles. Then they played the showreel I had had made, and after that, they asked me questions about coaching and my methods.

There were a few seconds of the lads flipping tractor tyres and Rom asked me why I used the tyres and I explained how I thought they made life difficult to flip and that was the same as trying to move a player away from the tackle or a breakdown. I saw him making notes.

I was also asked if I preferred a coaching job or a player coaching job. I talked about the reason I had retired and how I thought I would have to see how it held out in a game. They made sympathetic noises about that and moved on to asking questions about the school I was working at currently.

Then the chairman of the panel asked me if I had any questions. I had prepared some and they seemed to go down well. The chairman ended the meeting and asked me to wait outside.

I thought that that was weird as the big Aussie lad had just left after his interview, I glanced at my watch. They had been asking me questions for two and a half hours. There was no one else in the room. I got some water from a dispenser in the corner and sat and waited. I was sure that I was going to be sent home. I had to wait for half an hour before I was called back in.

They told me I was on the shortlist and then explained the rest of the process.

The following day there was a medical and some fitness tests to be done at the local university. Then I had the day off to plan a coaching session that would include back and forwards. Then there was another day off before we had a video analysis session and then an interview to end the process.

We all shook hands and as I left, I was handed a thick A4 envelope, it had all the stuff I needed to know about my next few days. The panel all wished me good luck and there were handshakes all around.

I walked out of the offices as if I was walking on clouds. I took a cab to the hotel and headed into the bar for a beer. I read the contents of the envelope again. It all looked easy enough.

I had one more beer and headed up to my room. I booked a cab to take me to the university the following morning and then got into my gym gear and went for a run. I ran for three hours and then hit the hotel gym and did some cardio and some weights.

Then I took a shower and headed down to the restaurant, I would have loved a big steak and a bottle of wine but I opted for the tuna salad and sparkling water. I was sure we would be given blood tests and I didn’t want mine to be 100% proof!

I had an early night...

The next morning, I woke early and walked twice around the block before a breakfast of fruit and a bowl of porridge. After a shower, I got dressed and packed my gym bag. The taxi came early and it took less than half an hour to get to the uni.

I found the meeting room I had been instructed to find. There were four other guys. One was a local lad; one was from Fiji and the other two were Kiwis. We all shook hands and introduced ourselves.

Then the lady who had been taking notes came in, she introduced herself as Jane Ellis. She would be leading us through the day and she would be our contact if we needed anything.

There were several medical tests to be undertaken we were all given a timetable and a map.

I had to undergo CT scans, MRI scans, blood tests, eyesight, and hearing tests plus a shed load of others. Three hours later we all met in the same meeting room. Jane Ellis then took us down to the canteen and we all sat at a table and ate. We chatted about the tests and rugby. The local lad was called Stan, the Fijian was called Temo Hinayana. He had played twenty-odd test matches and he was a big bugger. The Kiwis were called Dan and Andy. They had played provisional rugby, and neither had international caps but then again nor did I. Andy looked out of shape and he tucked into a cheeseburger and chips while we all ate salads.

For me it made more sense for Temo to get the job, his international caps should swing it for him.

I was conscious that we had fitness tests later that day and I wanted to be able to run without vomiting. I drank water with my salad and had one coffee as I watched Andy tuck into a huge ice cream pudding. We all asked Stan questions about the Canadian rugby scene, I had done some homework before the visit but it was nice to get more info from the horse’s mouth so to speak.

After we had eaten Jane told us we had half an hour to chill before we had to meet at the gym.

Temo and I went for a walk around the university campus, the other lads went for a smoke, which meant leaving the campus as it was non-smoking. Temo and I chatted as we walked, he had a good sense of humour and a great rugby brain. It was obvious that the job meant a lot to him and his family.

We got to the gym and got into our running gear. Then Jane introduced us to two lads, Connor and Stevo. They were PTs and they would be putting us through our paces. We did our warmups and then Connor led us on a run. They worked us hard; we started at a slow pace and did three laps of the rugby field and then he upped the pace and led us off campus and toward a hill in the distance.

For the first half an hour we were all equal but then Dan started to fade off and then so did Andy. Stan was a bit behind me and Temo but he was doing okay.

Temo and I kept up the pace and I was glad I had kept up the running when I got to Scotland, the climb up the hill was knackering but we got to the top and ran down, passing the kiwis on the way.

Temo, stan, and I got to the gym a full quarter of an hour before Dan and Andy. We picked up water bottles and I rinsed the dust and phlegm from my mouth before taking a few long gulps.

Dan and Andy ran up to us, the sweat was pouring off them and they looked fucked. We passed them water bottles. Stevo told us to take ten minutes and then we had to do a Bleep test.

The bleep test or multi-stage fitness test (MSFT) is used by many sports as well as the army and emergency services to test someone’s aerobic capacity. The test requires participants to run twenty meters back and forth across a marked track keeping time with beeps. Every minute or so, the next level commences: the time between beeps gets shorter; participants must run faster. If a participant fails to reach the relevant marker in time, they are cautioned. A second caution ends the test for that runner.

We had done it at the start of pre-season training and then at the end to see if we had been working to increase fitness. I had always liked to keep fit and made sure that I was in the top ten per cent in the fitness league table at the club.

We all lined up and Stevo set us off. Andy dropped out first. Dan did a few minutes more. Stan lasted another ten minutes before he dropped out.

Temo and I did another ten minutes before the PTs stopped the session. I felt I had done okay, the lungs were bursting and I was sweating buckets but I felt okay, Tema was breathing hard but he looked like he could do another half an hour now problem.

Connor then led us on another run, four laps around a rugby pitch and then we did some sprints.

The PTs also had us doing firemen’s lifts up and down the pitch. I carried Temo up the pitch and he carried me down the pitch. I felt sorry for Andy, he was a small lad and Dan was a lump. Stan had to carry Connor.

At the end of the fireman lifts Stan dropped to the door clutching his hamstring, it was obvious he was in pain. Jane Ellis led him off, telling the PTs she would take him to see the physios, but we didn’t see him again.

We did some shuttle runs to test our agility. They were similar to the ones I had laid out at the school for the lads.

After that, we did the bleep test again and this time Dan dropped out after five minutes, and Andy dropped out five minutes later. Temo and I were racing each other and the PTS stopped us after another ten minutes.

We were told to go and shower; our day was over. We all shook hands with Connor and Steve. Jane met us outside the gym bloc. She gave us our timetables for the coaching sessions and bid us goodbye.

Dan and Andy had a hire car. I called a taxi and asked Temo if he wanted a lift. He was stopping at the hotel across the road from mine. We agreed to meet for a meal later that evening at his hotel.

I went into my room and set an alarm before having a nap. The PTs had worked us hard and I was fucked, the dry heat in Canada was different to the UK weather. The alarm woke me, I made coffee and took a shower to wake myself up.

Half an hour later I was walking across to meet up with Temo. He had booked a table but we had a couple of beers in the bar before the meal. He told me about his home and his family. It was obvious that this job was important to him. He had three kids and wanted the best education and the best life for them.

We ate and talked about rugby. He told me tales of his time as an international and playing at the World Cup. He was proud of his achievement and I could not knock him for that.

After the meal, I went back to my hotel. I fancied another beer and ended up having three. I slept well that night.

I read the coaching documentation over breakfast. I had to work on specific items with the forwards and then the backs plus do a general coaching session. I had taken a notepad down to breakfast with me and I made notes about what I wanted to achieve.

I went back to my room and made some more notes about the coaching session. It was a full day and I needed to make a good impression. I made notes and sketches. By the time I had finished, it was nearly two o’clock. I decided to have a session in the hotel gym. I got into my gym gear and grabbed a bottle of water from the minibar.

The gym was empty, I did some warm-ups and then hit the weights machine. Did some reps before hitting the cross trainer. They had a fancy rowing machine so I jumped on that. After half an hour of rowing, I got up and decided that enough was enough. I bent down to pick up my water bottle, I felt a twinge in my lower back.

Fuck that’s all I needed I thought to myself. Pulling a muscle the day before the coaching session would not be ideal.

I headed back to my room and filled the bath to see if I could soak it off. Half an hour later it felt worse. I googled physios but there were none locally. I googled massage and found one that according to Google Maps was two blocks away.

I used the telephone in the room to call them.

The lady who answered the phone told me they only had one appointment slot left, and it was at five-thirty. I told her I would take it. A good look at Google Maps told me it was a short walk.

I had an hour to kill, so I reread my notes and made some adjustments. Then I had a coffee and reread my notes.

A glance at the clock told me it was time to go. I used the ATM in the hotel lobby before I walked down the street and found the place. It looked more like a house than a shop but I rang the bell and a Thai lady opened the door.

“Mr Robison?” She said. She had a cute accent. She was tiny but curvy, I guessed she was around twenty-five years old. She had pretty eyes and full lips. She was dressed in a white nurse’s coat. She was gorgeous that was for sure.