Multiple ingredients go into baking a world-class international prop. Strength is clearly a vital prerequisite, but so is a hunger for improvement and an ability to absorb serious levels of pain. There will be plenty of tightheads up and down the country not remotely surprised to learn that England’s Will Stuart regularly sleeps on his kitchen floor in Bath after a game as part of his recovery regime.
Stuart is 27 years old but listening to him detailing his Saturday night after the recent home Champions Cup win over Ulster makes him sound much older. “A few of the lads went for a few beers but I was back-spasming on my kitchen floor with a heat pack on my back and a drip line of tea from my girlfriend.
“She has moved in recently and has chosen a new mattress, which is a bit too soft for me. So I have spent a few nights on the floor, tucked up in a duvet and binge-watching Netflix. Post-games are a write-off .”
Ah, the glamour of top-level sport. The good news is that the 20-stone Stuart had something to show for it, having given South Africa’s formidable World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff, now at Ulster, a tough time in the scrums. The irony was not lost on the Englishman, who suffered a dislocated elbow against the same opponents at Twickenham 13 months ago. “It was a big one for me to get a few dominant scrums over on him, knowing he pretty much did the same to me the November before.”
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