I first worked with Sam at Ealing rugby club and he immediately stood out as a top S&C coach. He has several points of difference. His understanding of speed training for rugby was nothing like I had been exposed to through my career. Given the primary athletic movement in rugby is running, it is great to have an expert there! Through his own playing and coaching career in rugby, he understands how to transfer that deep knowledge onto a pitch to improve rugby performance which is the ultimate goal. The same can be said about his gym work- I felt like I was lifting weights to make me better at rugby rather than to just get better at lifting weights. That’s a rare surprisingly rare quality in S&Cs.
Sam’s empathetic, friendly and approachable personality creates reciprocated respect between the players and himself, allowing him to coach effectively with total buy in and cooperation. I really felt like Sam wanted to help me be the best player I could be rather than just a statistic for him to report back to the DOR. Again, that’s a surprisingly rare quality!
He’s a great bloke with a great mind