Neil Harmon

These days, nutrition is becoming vitally important for the committed rugby player. Most national sides have at least one nutritionist, and the importance of diet to training is well understood. But it is not just what you eat during training periods in pre-season and leading up to the match that matters.

You must also be careful what you eat on the day of the match itself, before and after, to ensure you get peak performance from your body in the game and in the weeks to come. Not preparing correctly can lead to sluggish/weak performances and an increased likelihood of injury!

On match day, your last meal should be 3-4 hours before the game. It should be food you are familiar with and eat regularly. Anything new could upset your body, and this is the last thing you want.

Try the meal out on a training day to see if it works with intense activity. The important thing about the meal is that it contains plenty of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the most important foods on a match day, as they can quickly convert to energy. They are needed to provide the quick bursts of energy required by rugby players.

While during training and pre-season you may be looking at protein for gaining muscle, on the day you only want peak performance from your body. For this reason, your last meal before the match should be something like pasta in tomato sauce (maybe with a little lean mince), or cereal and toast. These will give your body the fuel it needs.

You should top up with a lighter snack an hour or two before the match to give you that final extra kick. Make sure you don't eat anything after this, however, or you may feel sluggish on the pitch as it will not have digested. The snack should also be carbohydrate based on can be as simple as a sandwich (only lean meats/tuna as a filling) or a fruit smoothie. Sports bars or cereal bars are also good alternatives.

Immediately before and during the match, and during half-time, the most important thing is to keep well hydrated. Before the match , you should drink a litre of water. Be sure to sip, however, as you need to absorb the water, not simply have it pass through you. During the game, water is good, but sports drinks like Lucozade Sport and Powerade are better. Take a drink at any moment where there's a stop in play to ensure you recover all the fluid you've lost in sweat on the pitch.

After the match, you need to make sure you are going to be fighting fit for the next one, and food plays a role here too. Without the right foods, you may damage your body, and it will take you much longer to recover from injury.

One important thing to remember is that alcohol inhibits recovery, so if you have an injury, you should avoid alcohol for a couple of days to make sure it doesn't get worse.

Fruit and vegetables encourage recovery and healing, so should be eaten very soon after a match especially if you have been injured. In general, carbohydrates are still the most important foods you should be eating immediately after a match, as they will restore your energy levels quickly, which will have been severely depleted by the intense physicality of an 80 minute rugby game.

Now is the right time for low-nutrient carbohydrates like sugar to give you the quick energy recovery, as opposed to complex carbohydrates such as those found in pasta, which are better pre-match.

So there you are. Eat well on match day, and you could find it gives you just the edge you need.