Haskell’s hands full in training

ENGLAND flanker James Haskell has been engaging in gruelling Ultimate Fighting Championship-style training to hone his rugby skills.

Haskell has completed two sessions at London Shootfighters gym, which holds classes in boxing, Muay Thai, shoot-box, and freestyle wrestling — the disciplines that constitute mixed martial arts (MMA).

The popularity of MMA competitions such as ultimate fighting and Cage Rage, where opponents clash in an eight-sided enclosure called The Octagon, has rocketed in recent years.

And Haskell, who will feature in England’s back row for the RBS 6 Nations opener against Wales on February 2, believes many of the skills are transferable to the rugby pitch.

Wrestling has been his main focus so far, but the 22-year-old Wasps flanker also enjoys boxing and is already beginning to see the benefits of his new training regime.

Haskell said: “I don’t want to suddenly change career — doing the MMA is just to add another element to my rugby.

“There are similarities between wrestling and rugby and it’s obvious how one can help the other.

“They’re both about controlling your own body weight and using your opponent’s body weight to your advantage. If a player is running at you, you can use his weight to pivot, put him down and get straight back on your feet to steal the ball.

“That’s something I’ve been trying to bring into my game. Doing MMA has been very useful and is also something different to break up the routine of rugby training. It changes how your body works because in rugby you can end up being one- dimensional.

“Wrestling is good but I really like the boxing, especially the technical aspect in how to throw a punch correctly.

“I like the aggressive element of rugby and there’s an intensity to the MMA training that makes the two sports very similar.”

Haskell is one of the brightest prospects to emerge from English rugby for many years and has been tipped as a future Test captain.

Tall, powerful and athletic, he sets the mould for the modern back row forward and is expected to feature throughout the Six Nations, adding to his two caps.

Complementing his natural attri-butes is a strong work ethic. That ambition has already driven him to seek guidance from sprint coach Margot Wells and sports physiologist Dr Jill Owen, taking him in a new direction.

Haskell said: “The training is balanced — I’m not doing heavy fitness or ‘ground and pound’ (a tactic whereby one takes down an opponent, obtains a top position and then repeatedly strikes him in the face).

“I’m careful with the training and I won’t have much opportunity to pursue it with the Six Nations coming up. But once the Six Nations is over I’ll be going down there to do a bit more work.”

Haskell, at 6ft4ins and 17st6lbs, revels in the camaraderie found in the MMA gym, which he insists contains the same competitive spirit that prevails on the rugby pitch.

He said: “Initially I thought it was odd because one minute you’re beating each other up and the next you’re shaking each other’s hands. But that’s just like rugby.”