Paul Downes is the Head Of Athletic Performance and Pathways at Moana Pasifika Super Rugby Franchise in New Zealand. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and is an accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach with the UKSCA and ASCA. Within his 18 years applied coaching experience he has worked with developmental and elite athletes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

QUOTES“We used screening to tell us what we could do, not what we couldn’t do”“In Day 1 of every week at Moana Pasifika, we invested a lot of time in relationships… to connect and calibrate”“We used maximal velocity work as a prophylactic for injury”“Having a bigger bench or better clean from the floor form probably wasn’t going to be a difference maker for us, our difference maker was more likely to be giving our players more movement vocabulary”“A cognitive apprenticeship is a teaching method that really focuses on authentic learning environments and putting the learner in an situation they are likely to experience in the workplace”

SHOWNOTES1) Paul’s journey from the UK to NZ (and back!) in rugby union2) Setting up a Super Rugby athletic performance department from scratch3) Maximizing player availability in professional rugby union without a reserve grade or academy 4) Different screening options and a “typical” week in Moana Pasifika5) Individualizing the preparation of rugby union players in-season and player-led different strength and conditioning options6) Using the difference in times between COD and non-COD conditioning tests to inform training7) How strong is strong enough in rugby union and downfalls of over-emphasizing strength and size in rugby8) Paul’s research on decision making process in S&C, the differences between different levels of experience in S&C and the “cognitive apprenticeship” approach9) The value of the session preview, setting the intent and outcomes of a session and aligning S&C language to performance language