WITH THE huge advances made in the elite game, fitness coaches like Aled Walters, Nic Gill and Bobby Stridgeon have become integral to international sides.
But without the resources afforded to the professionals, what is the secret behind the longevity of 65-year-old Russ Price, still going in what he makes to be his 55th straight rugby season?
“I have to credit my personal dietician Arthur Guinness and my two personal trainers, Messrs Benson & Hedges.”
It’s a tongue-in-cheek, very grass-roots quip about enjoying pints and a smoke but does go some way to helping to explain what would possess someone to stick around for 40 years at a club.
The social side of a rugby club has always been a draw and although the advent of other distractions and things to do over the years means they are not perhaps the hubs they once were, especially in South-West London where Price’s side Raynes Park RFC are based, there is certainly still a place for them.
“It is very friendly,” Price tells us over
