Rugby Player Therapy - The Agent X Way ....take his mind off his scrapes and bruises and get down to a bit of good old fashioned loving – preferably with hubby lying on his back so that minimal movement and effort on his part is required!

 The summer break feels like a distant memory now with the new season well and truly underway. The League is following a familiar pattern with the Gloucesters, Wasps and Sales of this world sitting pretty at the top. The funny English/Welsh Cup whose name seems to change every year has started, the boys are back in England training already and the Autumn Internationals are looming on the horizon. 

Talking of the England Internationals, it’s been all over the rugby news how the recent England training camp saw Andy Robinson dealing with a severely depleted squad, with half his players already carrying some kind of injury.

It's a real problem these days in rugby – some people put it down to training, some to playing too many games of rugby, but one thing’s for sure – these boys of ours need some TLC and I intend to make sure hubby is fighting fit and ready to stake his claim for a place in the England side, even if it means training myself up as his own personal sports physio!

Having lived with a rugby player for a few years now I’ve become a bit of an expert at diagnosing injuries and here is my guide to a few of the more common problems suffered by the professional rugby lads these days:

The bruised ego – usually occurs when dropped by the coach or made to look an idiot on the pitch by a member of the opposite team. Remedy – massage the ego hard and pay lots of compliments until hubby once again feels like he’s the best player in the world and assured of his England place.

Feeling his age – tends to occur when a younger team member who plays in the same position as hubby is coming through strongly and making a play for his place in the side. Remedy – remind him that his experience is invaluable and what he lacks in pace he more than makes up for in cunning and tactical awareness. Muttering something about how everyone in the squad looks up to him can also help here.

Morning after aches and pains – can occur after a particularly bruising encounter and tend to get worse with age. Remedy – take his mind off his scrapes and bruises and get down to a bit of good old fashioned loving – preferably with hubby lying on his back so that minimal movement and effort on his part is required!

A bang to the head – rugby is a very physical sport and it’s not uncommon for players to take a bit of a knock to the head and feel a bit fuzzy after the game. Remedy – make sure he takes it very easy and stays well away from alcohol. If there’s any post match beers to be had you’ll be drinking them, (hopefully hubby will be well enough to drive you home!) and remember to take advantage of his hazy memory at this time and use it to make sure he sees  the latest Marc Jacobs handbag that you bought on Ebay using the joint credit card, being sure to pass it off as some old thing you’ve had for ages.

 Losing streaks – the hardest of injuries of all for the rugby wife to deal with. When your man’s team is going through a bad spell and every weekend is seeing them incur another defeat, life can become pretty unbearable. It’s important to remember at this time that life at training can get pretty tough for the boys with everyone from the fitness coach to the nutritionist wanting to look like they’re pushing the boys to the limit to try and turn things around. Remedy – I find it best to lie low in situations like this and if you can’t say anything positive then don’t say anything at all. Nothing you say or do is going to change the fact that they’re losing and really there is bugger all you can do to help change the situation. Just be as supportive as you can, try and make a few encouraging noises now and then and perhaps suggest that they could always try moving to a better club, as long as it’s in a part of the country you could bear to live in!