Chapter 48

We walked up to Esse’s apartment. It was all open-plan and very modern. She shrugged off her coat and put her laptop on the table.

“So would you like a drink?” she asked.

“Yes, I would love one please,” I said and had a look around. She had a huge bookshelf down one side of the living room. The bottom shelf was full of records, old school vinyl albums and there was a really expensive looking HIFI System.

“Tea, coffee?” Esse asked.

“Coffee please,” I replied.

“Please sit down and make yourself at home!” Esse smiled.

I sat at one end of a large leather sofa. Esse went into the kitchen and I heard her making coffee, she came back in five minutes later, and she had a tray with a pot of coffee, a jug of milk and a tray of cookies.

She sat on the armchair opposite. She poured me a coffee and passed it over. Then she offered me some cookies. I took two.

I sipped my coffee and she sipped hers. Then she smiled, and I wondered what was going on in her head. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“Zak, please don’t take this the wrong way but I won’t be sleeping with you tonight,” she said and sipped her coffee.

“Okay,” I said and smiled at her. Inside I was gutted but I was not going to show her that.

“I like you and I know you like me but I am not into casual sex,”

“That’s okay, I admire your stance,” I lied. My cock had been throbbing since we had gotten into the car.

The room was silent for a few moments as we both sipped on our coffees.

“You’re not angry at me?” she asked.

“No not at all,” I said, “As I say I admire your stance,”

“So, when will you know if you got the CRFU job?” she asked at the same time she took a cookie from the plate.

“No idea,” I said and took another cookie, “I guess they have lots to discuss,”

“And you will be living in Calgary?” she asked.

“Yes, most of the time, working with clubs but seconded to one club,” I replied,

“The bears?” she asked.

“I hope so, it’s a great club with lots of potential,” I said with a wink.

She bit her bottom lip and I wondered if she was changing her mind and some fun might be on the cards.

It wasn’t...

She made more coffee, and we talked about rugby, about the rugby club, and music.

I left her apartment two hours after I got there with a kiss on the cheek and a promise to see me the following day.

I drove back to the hotel and had a couple of beers in the bar before heading up to my room. I was tempted to call Chariya to see if she was up for a meet. In the end, I had a wank in the shower and went to bed.

The following morning, I woke early and was ravenous. I got dressed and went down for breakfast. After eating a hearty meal and drinking a pot of coffee I went up to my room and set a two-hour alarm before getting down to some work on my book.

After two hours the alarm brought me back into the present day, it was strange how the writing took me back to times in my past and brought back such vivid memories. The wins, the losses, the drinking, the travelling.

I made a coffee and made some notes for the session with the backs that day. I changed into my training kit and headed over to the club.

The lads were on the training pitch being warmed up by the S&C guys. I got out of the car and put my rugby boots on. then I joined the lads for some warm-ups. Half an hour later I saw Jim and Noah bringing down a whiteboard and some trays of water bottles.

The S&C guys sent us for a run around the pitch and once that was done that called a halt to the session. Jim called everyone over. Water bottles were passed around, I took a long swig and spat it out. My mouth was full of dust and dryer than the desert.

Once I had gotten my breath back, I took the lead on the session. We talked about running lines and how to create space. We drew out some attacking moves on the board. We talked about who was the best to run the dummy lines and who was best to take the ball up to the defensive line.

Then we walked the play with Jim, Kelly and Noah walking along as the defence. I had to stop the lads a few times and talk about how to move against the defence, how to create space, and how to draw in defenders.

Once we had walked it a few times, then jogged it then ran it. The lads got used to seeing the lines to take. I moved over and ran defence at them, closing down more space. I worked them hard for a good hour before we called a stop to the session. More water was taken on and then I asked Jim to get the tackle bags out.

Jim and Noah both looked at me like I was off my head.

“Tackle practice with backs?” he said, “we normally only do that with the forwards!”

“All the team needs to tackle and a good dominant tackle can change the game!” I said.

They looked at each other and then Jim took two of the lads and came back with a dozen tackle bags. I got him to hold one bag and I took the lads through the best way to tackle in slow motion.

Then I moved into top gear. Tackling at full speed and at the same time making the tackle a dominant one. A dominant tackle is one that generates negative momentum. Winning the defensive contact, holding the other guy still or driving him backwards in the tackle. Also, if you can knock the ball out of the opponent’s hands all the better.

Once I had shown the guys how to do it, I got them to line up and start to hit the tackle bags. There was a lot of work to be done that was obvious. Some of the lads made a lot of improvement in the half hour we spent on the bags. Some of the lads needed a lot more work.

We ended the session with a game of touch rugby. At the end of the session, I helped Jim and Noah to carry the training kick back up to the clubhouse. We piled the kit in the storeroom and headed into the canteen. There was a good supply of coffee and a pile of pastries.

Some of the academy lads were there and we exchanged hello’s.

“What are the academy lads doing?” I asked.

“They have a training session this afternoon,” Jim said as he demolished a Pain au chocolat.

“Do you think they would mind if I took it?” I asked and finished my coffee.

“I am sure they would love it!” Jim said and Noah nodded his agreement.

“I will go and okay it with the academy coaches,” Noah said.

As he got up to leave the room one of the office staff came in.

“There is a truck with some tyres in the car park,” she said with a bemused look on her face.

I got some of the lads together and we went to unload the truck. There were six tractor tyres and six truck tyres, they were perfect. They would make for some great training kit.

We laid out six lines for the lads to work on. there was a tackle back. Then a truck tyre, a tractor tyre, and another tackle bag.

Once the rest of the academy lads were all out there, I showed them what to do. They had to hit the tackle bag, flip the tyres, and hit the tackle bag. It was to teach the lads to get off the floor ASAP and it also worked muscles and built-up stamina.

We split the teams into sixes and with a blow of the whistle. The lads really got into the training. Some of the lads struggled with the tyres, others made it look easy.

I got them to do the run twelve times and by the end of it, they were sweating like a sumo wrestler at a buffet. I blew the whistle and brought them in for drinks.

The rest of the afternoon was spent working on defensive lines. Me and the other coaches ran the offense. One of the lads thought he was billy big bollocks. He tried to line me up for a huge tackle and when I sidestepped him, he got arsey and came at me fists bunched. To be fair when I was a young player fights in training sessions were an everyday occurrence and there was always rough and tumble during games.

I had played a few games against some of the top French sides and the fights sometimes started in the tunnel before the game.

I was never one to take a backwards step and if this academy lad wanted to test me then he might get twatted. He stepped in close and swung at me. I caught his arm and rolled him over my back in a judo throw. He landed with a grunt and the rest of the lads laughed at him.