The Star*Wednesday, 26 November 2014Page: 46,47

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WE TRY HARD TO EMiHH

SIX-TIMES capped Ireland star Tommy O’Donnell is a huge fan of Munster’s strict new home-cooking/lunchbox

regime. Players must take responsibility

for packing a lunchbox every morning and the contents must be submitted

for inspection and passed by nutritionist Catherine Norton before they can train.

Ms Norton was hired by this season’s new coach Anthony Foley, the

first time Munster have had a fulltime nutritionist.

“Before we would be relying on going to the Sports Bar in

Limerick University for

breakfast and eating there afterwards,” admits the Tipperaryborn

player.

Derek REPORTS

derek. folev@thestar. ie

“Now you know you must have a quality snack ready for yourself.

“I was pretty good before but I know I have gotten better , with regards to making a meal the night before, and that would be my ready-to-go snack with the right amount of carbs and the right amount of protein.

“It would usually be a grilled chicken fillet

with rice and a small piece of veg on top of SHAPE: Tommy has lost weight

it. How it is cooked is the main thing. Before I would have been putting a lot of oil in and thinking it was good.”

O’Donnell says his knowledge of how to refuel and how to build muscle has improved dramatically in just a few short months.

Book And he laughs when told his Munster boss Anthony Foley once submitted baked beans on toast as the ideal pre-match meal for a book on healthy sports eating produced by the Irish Rugby Players Association years ago. If that appears odd, the

.*' nutritionist advice that saw Munster make two Heineken Cup finals (2000 and 2002) contained

snacking on Jaffa Cakes, considered the be-all

and end-all of an k. energy boost

^ at the time!

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“I don’t know about being allowed to produce beans on toast now,” says O’Donnell in horror.

“Now we bring our own food ready-made and Catherine is our controller, checking the quality.

“Is it something you bought from the local petrol station the night before or is it something you put quality time into... with the right amount of carbs and protein?

“And it has to be ready to eaten immediately.

Part of the improvement is that last year we were waiting

on food to come to us after training.”

O’Donnell is pleased his weight has dropped from 108kg to 104kg under the new regime.

He says: “Catherine’s thing is every gram of oil is an extra nine calories and they all add up.

“Every gram is going to add up as you run around the field so I think it has made a difference.

“It is about the margins, knowing how much and what to eat and getting

the timing right — eating straight after training, the repairing

starting immediately.”

Value This is all part of a

growing awareness of the value of diet in modern sport, a science

where knowledge is accelerating.

O’Donnell may be in the hands of Catherine Norton on club duty but he is also reporting

to IRFU performance nutritionist Ruth Wood-Martin when it comes to Ireland duty.

A graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology and the University of

Coleraine, WoodMartin

is a registered dietitian and sports and exercise nutritionist who has been with the IRFU since 2006.

Her main focus of work is with the national senior squad and also includes education of players in the VI 8s, U19 and U20s squads.

Before starting with the IRFU in 2006, Ruth’s work included > consultant nutrition services to the Sports Institute Northern Ireland, the Irish women’s hockey squad and Irish Ladies Golf Union.

‘Every gram is going to

add up as you run’

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| WORKS OUT IN

THE LONG RUN:

Ireland star

Tommy

I