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Behind the team: Scotland Head of Physical Performance Josie Symonds
By Gary Heatly
Monday, July 29 of this year was the date Josie Symonds circled in her diary as soon as the Guinness Women’s Six Nations finished in April.
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Symonds only took up her new role as Scotland women’s head of physical performance a couple of weeks before the tournament had started so she had needed to hit the ground running in terms of working with new players and colleagues at that time.
Scotland won two out of their five matches during the tournament to make it eight wins from their last 11 Tests and there was plenty from a fitness point of view for Symonds to be impressed with.
There was the attacking intent versus Wales, the determination to keep getting up off the line against France and the dogged display in tricky conditions in Italy for example.
But the great thing post-tournament from Symonds’ point of view was – like the players and the coaching staff – she knew there was lots that could be tweaked and improved on as the sixth in the world Scots look to keep getting better and, eventually, catch up with the top five sides.
Earlier this week skipper Rachel Malcolm said that Scotland are now on a “14-month journey” which runs from a few weeks ago in July to September next year when the Rugby World Cup 2025 comes to an end in England.
To start with, on September 6 Bryan Easson’s charges will host Wales at Hive Stadium in a September Test.
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They will then play Fiji on September 14 in a second September Test at the same venue before heading to South Africa to defend their WXV 2 title later that month and into October.
Then, in March and April, will be the Six Nations.
Three weeks to go… 🏴🔜#AsOne pic.twitter.com/S2XlEpSN8Y
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) August 14, 2024
All of that, after some warm-up games more than likely over the summer, will then lead into the showpiece Rugby World Cup 2025 held in England between August 22 and September 27.
Scotland’s place there still needs to be rubberstamped, but will be after WXV 2.
A lot to come then and, in her position, Symonds is going to be key in helping the players navigate through the next year and a bit.
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It will be a busy schedule by anyone’s standards, so it is maybe just as well Symonds has been called a ‘Duracell Bunny’ before.
“Josie is an absolute ball of energy,” the aforementioned Malcolm said a few days ago when asked about the head of physical performance.
“She’s so enthusiastic about all aspects of strength and conditioning and how that translates to rugby, everything Josie does is about transferring things that are worked on onto the pitch and a game situation.
“I think she’s going to bring a huge amount to our programme in that area.”
“I certainly am energetic,” Symonds confirmed.
“On the first day of this four-week block of pre-season that we are in now [day one was July 29] I was so excited to be with the players again and really start the long run in to next year’s World Cup.
“We built up a great rapport during the Six Nations and I just wanted to get back working with them, get my teeth into things and start implementing strategies that will, ultimately, help the team keep on moving forward.
Incredibly happy to have accepted the role of Head of Physical Performance for @Scotlandteam Women’s National Team. Looking forward to getting straight into it with the 23/24 Six Nations 🏴🤩 pic.twitter.com/uRVFQ6p3YW
— Josie Symonds (@jsymonds014) February 7, 2024
“When I came into the post before the Six Nations a lot of structures were already in place while a lot of the time we spent together was during match weeks so we could not bring in a lot of new things or change too much, but I spent time during the tournament getting to know all of the coaches, getting to know the players and filling up my notebook with thoughts.
“It was clear that I had come into a really strong environment with a lot of experienced people and after the Six Nations, I was just excited for what was to come next.
“I took a step back from things, made some more notes and then worked with Fraser [Menzies, Scotland women’s sport scientist] and Lara [Wilson, Scotland women’s performance nutritionist] to start to tailor things and get ready for the first day of this month-long camp.”
During the ongoing camp the 35-strong wider Scotland squad and six ‘day trainers’ – who are joining for experience – have been based at Oriam on the outskirts of Edinburgh between Mondays and Wednesdays.
Week three has just finished with week four to come next week before a squad of 30 is then named for the September Tests and WXV 2.
“While general strength and power is obviously important for rugby and always will be, I always try and tailor programmes to each player individually,” Symonds, who is 31 and played the game herself as a full-back for Worcester, said.
“By getting to know the players and spending time with them during the Six Nations and during this block I feel like I have got to know them well and got the gist of what makes them tick.
“Obviously, things like previous injuries, what they have enjoyed working on before and things they are looking to improve are important, but so too is getting to know their character and the way they go about things away from the training pitch or the gym.
“That is a really nice aspect of the job and it means now that I can have open and honest dialogue with the players so that everything we are doing is helping them and the team improve.
“Of course with professionalism still pretty new in women’s rugby in Scotland and younger players starting to come through from the club game, the starting point for all of the players in terms of fitness varies greatly too.
“Thanks to the Six Nations period, all the data that Fraser has collected and the time spent in this training block everything is being driven by the data and we feel like we are in a pretty good spot.
“One thing we are really working on is recovery and behaviours around that.
“When we have these short, sharp weeks just now we have to get through as much work as possible so recovery is key while, at a tournament like WXV 2, games come thick and fast so again recovery is very important.
“Sometimes the players might think they hear too much from me, but they know that is just my enthusiasm coming through and we all have the same goal and are on the same page as we look to arrive at the World Cup a year from now in the best shape we can possibly be.”
Symonds, who currently plays American football, may have grown up in and around the West Midlands, but her father is a proud Scot.
“There may be Wolverhampton accents on his side of the family now, but Grandad was a Glasgow man, and Dad and I have always been Scots at heart,” Symonds, who arrived at her current post via roles at Worcester Warriors and Exeter Chiefs, explained.
“The national anthem is always a spine-tingler for us, especially when there were two big home crowds during the Six Nations [versus France and England]. Dad came to support and shed a tear or two during the national anthem.
“Scotland means a lot to him and to his family and now this role with the women’s national team means a lot to me.
“I feel like we have just scratched the surface and I’m really excited for the amazing year or so to come.”
