Wallabies Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps and Nick Frisby use same ultra-cold therapy as LeBron James
STEPHEN Moore’s masked Wallabies are using the same ultra-cold therapy as NBA star LeBron James to maximise their intense training in London.
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STEPHEN Moore’s masked Wallabies are using the same ultra-cold therapy as NBA star LeBron James to maximise their intense training in London.
The initial trepidation for Bernard Foley and co was obvious when confronted with literally freezing their butts off at -135ºC-plus.
That’s the Antarctic level freeze when entering the mobile cryotherapy chamber that popped up at the team’s London training base yesterday.
The Wallabies paid for the unit’s one day visit to accelerate recovery on their heaviest double-training day before Sunday’s Test against Argentina at Twickenham.
Hooker Moore was dressed in mask and gloves and simply shorts for the rapid two or three minute immersion in subzero, dry air.
Basketball superstar James swears by the treatment that rapidly cools the body’s surface temperature and stirs healing blood flow.
It has the same effect as an ice bath plunge after training to reduce inflammation and stir faster body recovery.
The Welsh rugby team has regularly headed to Poland on pre-season camps to use a cryotherapy unit there while the Wallabies have followed football clubs in using Britain’s first mobile unit.
For in-form halfback Will Genia, the warmth of a big crowd and victory at Twickenham is all he needs.
He is upbeat that the flaws that tripped the Wallabies 18-10 in Pretoria last weekend are being fixed. Certainly, yesterday’s full-on contact session in London showed how slick Israel Folau, Quade Cooper, Genia and co link and at what speed.
“We’ve been saying it for a long time now that when we create opportunities and give ourselves chances in matches, we are just not taking them,” Genia said.
“The onus is on us as a backline to execute a little bit better. Do that and we are every chance of winning well.
“It’s so disappointing we created all those opportunities in Pretoria and were unable to finish whether it was passes behind blokes or taking the right option.”
Genia scored his first Test try against England at Twickenham in 2009 and enjoyed a fine run of World Cup games there last year.
“It’s nice to come back and have those memories lingering,” he said.
“At the same time, we are under no illusions it’s going to be tough and we aren’t relying on it being a comfortable venue for us.”
Originally published as Wallabies Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps and Nick Frisby use same ultra-cold therapy as LeBron James