A day in the life of a SVNS rugby star in Singapore

SVNS is the most high-adrenaline, high-speed format of the game, but what is it like for the players? Gladiators out on the field, with nowhere to hide, going toe-to-toe with some of the finest athletes on the planet.

21:00 – The night before

Lay your kit out for tomorrow and put it in the bag so as not to waste any precious time in the morning. Intense negotiation with room-mate about what time the alarm is set.

06:10 – Alarm goes off

Jet lag wakes me up a couple of times in the night. Jet lag protocols include seeking sunlight, as well as shifting sleeping patterns and eating times prior to arrival, and – importantly – avoiding blue light in the evening.

I do 10 minutes of mindful breathing to set myself up for a big day.

06:45 – Early breakfast

With a 09:30 local time (GMT+8) kick off, we need to get our nutrition in early so we aren’t playing on a full stomach. Match day breakfast is usually some oats and fruit, eggs and toast, and pancakes if I can find them! 

The hotel breakfast buffet always has temptations but a full English on match day isn’t for me.

An electrolytes drink gets me ahead of the hydration and even though I’m a sucker for my morning coffee hit, I try and hold off until closer to game time.

07:45 – Arrive at the stadium

Take a stroll onto the field to see if it’s a fast, hard track. Then it’s some keepie-uppies with the boys to wake myself up.

This is confidence-building for Tom Emery, who has football skills that would put Ronaldinho to shame, but not so much for those with the touch of a baby elephant – no names mentioned.

08:20 – Early morning snack (or a stash of Haribos)

I had to get my sugar rush before Alex Davis scoffed them all!

Most mornings, you’d usually bump into the South African boys at the coffee station getting their morning flat whites. Standard.

08:30 – Team meeting

This is usually a quick pep-talk about tactics for game one. We discuss key areas and confirm plans for kick off, scrum, lineout and so on.

We have done our prep so this is just a refresher and a mental primer. 

08:40 – Individual prep

To get us in the mood, it’s usually music on, with one of us designated to be in charge of tunes – a job with huge responsibility!

The boys will be strapped up by the physio, get their match kit on and start doing mobility and activation.

It’s mostly relaxed at this stage. People are narrowing their focus towards game time but with six matches across three days you have to be smart about when you ‘switch on’.

I tried not to waste mental energy by being too intense before I needed to be.

09:10 – Warm up

In Singapore, the warm-ups are on the back pitches and even at this time it’s hot and humid.

The sweat comes on at a furious rate. Even though the warm-up is only about 15 minutes, it hits you like a ton of bricks in this climate.

09:27 – In the tunnel for game one

Most players have a few butterflies, so it’s final high fives, hugs and nervous smiles exchanged between team-mates. ‘Let’s go’.

09:50 – First final whistle 

We head straight off the field. A ‘hot’ debrief huddle in the tunnel and it’s onto the spin bikes for a short flush of the legs.

Then we strip off and hang up the kit to dry before game two. Given the humidity, we have the unenviable experience of putting damp socks, shorts and shirts back on in a few hours!

Most boys at least have clean undies for each game (although some are known to have one pair for the day). I’m not pointing the finger, but Dan Norton’s name crops up regularly!

10:00 – Ice-bath (not mandatory)

An ice-bath is a useful way of bringing the core body temperature down. Some think they’re extreme athlete Wim Hof, and others won't go anywhere near them!

10:30 – Loading back up

Once we are showered and our heart rates and mindsets are back to normal, it’s time load up with food and drink.

Hydration is the number one priority in Singapore so we have plenty of water and an energy drink. There’s nothing too complicated about what we consume. It’s usually some pasta and protein to keep us going.

Four sweet treats are obligatory on game day – that’s unproven, but I like to believe it!

11:00 – Chill-out

You have a bit of time between games in Singapore so there’s some useful time to relax.

Before fully switching off I usually rewatch game one to look for anything I can take forward through the tournament. Then it’s time to find a little space among the boys in the changing room, lie down and get my feet up.

The aim is to conserve mental and physical energy so you can be most alive for game time. Ethan Waddleton can sleep anywhere, anytime.

Harry Glover and I used to do a capital cities quiz, to keep the grey matter ticking over.

16:30 – Recce the opposition

When we’d finished playing, we’d sit in the stands for a few games to watch future opposition.

It’s easy for the rest of the tournament to pass us by so we focus on rest and recovery. Sitting among the crowd gives us a rare chance to soak up the atmosphere.

17:00 - Final whistle for the day

Two games under the belt, so we head back to the team hotel for a big feed at dinner.

20:00 - Check in with the physio

This is to manage any bumps and bruises. We need to do what we can overnight to give the body a chance to perform on day two.

If anyone has a big knock that needs icing overnight they will sleep with the icing machine running. It pumps cold water and compresses the injury on a cycle.

It’s a bit noisy and annoying so you hope it won’t be in your room that night.

21:30 - Wind down before bed

They are exhausting days, so I’ll have a concentrated cherry juice to help with sleep and recovery, a chamomile tea and dip into a few pages of a book I have on the go – and before you know, I’m catching some zeds.

22:00 – Sleep

Dreaming of doing it all again tomorrow!

By Tom Mitchell