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Cape Town - The All Blacks have taken sport’s science to a new level, with the team’s doctor Deb Robinson giving an insight as to the preparation that goes behind getting the world champions ready to play.
According to the allblacks.com website, in recent years there has been focus of the strength of the mind, whereas this year the All Blacks have upped the ante with player fitness.
But behind the scenes even getting on the plane is no longer a case of getting a comfortable seat and a handy pair of earplugs.
The All Blacks now enter a plane with three vials, a hydration mask, and of course the tried and true sleeping pill - the backbone of any long haul flyer.
The vials are a new element of the All Blacks training, essentially increasing their hydration and recuperation levels, aspects which are drastically effected when flying.
The masks are a practice used for many years by many elite sporting teams, specifically designed to combat the dryer and thinner air that features at high altitude.
“The best way of describing it is we are using a hydration drink to mitigate known stresses of long haul travel,” Robinson said.
“They drink one when they take off, one mid-flight and one when they land, which has a little bit of caffeine to give them a bit of a kick when they arrive.
“They still need to drink plenty of water. The air in the plane is very dry and you do dehydrate and that's why they wear the masks. We've used those for quite a long time. They have a little coil that absorbs the moisture you breathe out and remoisturises the air as you breathe it back in again."
According to the allblacks.com website, in recent years there has been focus of the strength of the mind, whereas this year the All Blacks have upped the ante with player fitness.
But behind the scenes even getting on the plane is no longer a case of getting a comfortable seat and a handy pair of earplugs.
The All Blacks now enter a plane with three vials, a hydration mask, and of course the tried and true sleeping pill - the backbone of any long haul flyer.
The vials are a new element of the All Blacks training, essentially increasing their hydration and recuperation levels, aspects which are drastically effected when flying.
The masks are a practice used for many years by many elite sporting teams, specifically designed to combat the dryer and thinner air that features at high altitude.
“The best way of describing it is we are using a hydration drink to mitigate known stresses of long haul travel,” Robinson said.
“They drink one when they take off, one mid-flight and one when they land, which has a little bit of caffeine to give them a bit of a kick when they arrive.
“They still need to drink plenty of water. The air in the plane is very dry and you do dehydrate and that's why they wear the masks. We've used those for quite a long time. They have a little coil that absorbs the moisture you breathe out and remoisturises the air as you breathe it back in again."
