Reihana: It's the hardest yet for Saints!
Northampton Saints skipper Bruce Reihana admits pre-season training for the club's re-entry into the Premiership is the hardest he has ever known.
New head of performance Nick Johnston this week revealed the Saints players are two years behind the fitness levels of the top six in the Premiership.
And in an effort to catch up, Johnston, who was brought from his old club Sale by director of rugby Jim Mallinder at the end of last season, has implemented a gruelling training schedule.
Reihana captained Saints to a double-winning season in National League One and is renowned for his power and pace, but even the former All Black is feeling the effects of 6am starts, strongman competitions and 5km rows around Pitsford reservoir.
"So far it's been the hardest pre-season we have ever known," said Reihana, who along with the rest of the players starts his day with blood and urine tests to check on their progress.
"It is really good, we worked hard last season to get where we are now and we've got to work even harder to prepare for the Premiership and try to fight our way out of the bottom.
"They have been working us very, very hard. It is the sort of stuff we need to do, we need to work hard all over again, a lot harder than we have ever done before.
"We know what is ahead of us, it is going to be very, very tough up there in the Premiership. We are at the bottom of the ladder and we have got to work our way back up again."
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Man dies following motorway smash on Northamptonshire border
- BREAKING NEWS: Police inundated with hundreds of complaints over snowball fights
- Huge cigarette haul by masked burglars in armed raids at Northampton stores
- BREAKING NEWS: Police name man killed in crash on motorway in Northamptonshire
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- BREAKING NEWS: Fishmarket art gallery offered new home
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- New manager of Northampton’s Grosvenor Centre says ‘This is the beginning of a new era’
- Neighbours raise concern about bid to build new house three inches from their home
- Four-storey replacement for Fishmarket gallery should open in September
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 5 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
