No pressure, then.
The University of Waikato Adams Centre and surrounding Blake Park in Mount Maunganui sets the scene for our session; the premise to gain a rare insight into the All Blacks training.
Gill wasn't about to reveal any state secrets but the focus and effort he demands from every exercise speaks volumes.
"The intensity you work at is what makes it tough," he says. "When you work really hard, and you don't have a long recovery, that catches up with you."
Sure does.
We start with mobility. Using a foam roller I hit trigger points in hips, thighs and glutes to release muscle tension. This is individualised depending on the player, their age, position and injury history.
Stretching with elastic bands and a dynamic warm-up featuring hurdles follows.
Then, we're into it, with speed progressions – acceleration plus load – in a series of weighted (80kg) sled pushes and sprints. The aim here is to use leg drive and low body position, just as you would entering a ruck or pushing the scrum.
As we move outside my legs are already heavy, sweat steadily flowing. I smile nervously as Gill says he will enjoy the field section, dubbed metabolic conditioning.
This involves sprinting 88 metres in 20-second periods. Twenty seconds rest, and repeat four times.
Follow that with the same number of sprints over the same distance in 25 second intervals, only this time hitting my chest to ground at each turn.
Gill barks as oxygen deprivation slows my pace.
These are one of 30 to 40 variations of running blocks the All Blacks do. Typically backs and loose forwards double the distance (176m) as their in-game running demands are much greater.
The 88m sprint version suits tight forwards who generally earn a crust in close combat, needing to get off the ground quickly and often.
Naturally, I have a new appreciation of the fitness levels of elite props. And I'm interested to note 70 per cent of the All Blacks training does not include weights.
At one point Gill explains the importance of rugby specific training. I'm so fatigued I cannot calculate 88x2. Imagine trying to maintain a clear head under such stress during a high-pressured test.
"The thing with rugby is we've learnt a lot. It's been professional for just over 20 years now so the staff have experimented and athletes are constantly challenging the levels they can reach. Back in the day we probably had guys running 5km a couple of times a week and then rugby training. Now players are running 10km in games sometimes and it is high intensity, repeated efforts with short rests so that's how we have to condition.
"There's still a place for the long, slow run to build your aerobic base to allow you to recover well but most professional athletes will be training twice, sometimes three times per-day."
Large tyre flips and more sprints – some running backwards to replicate realigning on defence – finish this section, leaving me hunched over gasping for air and my thighs seizing.
Videographer Alan Gibson chuckles while asking what my next bright idea is.
Back inside, Gill sets up a 10-minute tabata body weight circuit comprising push-ups, squats and rope swings. Ten minutes might not sound long but when you've already been close to spewing and just 10s rest is allowed between exercises – effectively enough time to transition – it is hard yakka.
By the time we finish with a light bench press, pull-ups and planks I've reached a physical exhaustion. Every inch of my frame shouts "no mas".
Still trying to regain composure, my first ice bath experience starts recovery. As I emerge from the Arctic-like water, grasping the hand rail is the only thing between me and fainting.
The perception is All Blacks - all professional rugby players, really - live a glamorous existence. They are well paid to do what they love on the big stage.
And they do, but the reality behind the perception is they sacrifice a lot to get to the elite level, and then to stay there. It means minimal beers and a renunciation of Macca's.
Talent only gets you so far. Discipline and commitment are non-negotiable. Suffering a constant bedfellow.
"It is a great career but like anything it still requires a lot of hard work," Gill reminds me. "Anything good normally requires people to get uncomfortable. Do the hard yards, and it pays off. Typically players that don't do all the little things have short careers.
"We're seeing now careers lasting longer and longer. Is it a grind? It's hard work. And for some of these guys it's relentless 12 months a year."
Gill highlights five key areas to be a successful elite rugby player; technical, tactical, game understanding, physically expressing abilities, and mental. On this particular day we covered one.
All are intertwined, and the best nail everything.
"It's a complex beast. Everything we do it needs to have a purpose and we need to help the body absorb it so that next time we do it we're that much better. Whether that's how you prepare to train; your mobility, activation, rehab all the way through to what you eat before and after you train. That's small parts of it because you want to do it again this afternoon.
"How you recover; how you sleep, what you put in your mouth, how much fluid you take in all adds to the puzzle. And if you're missing one piece you never complete the puzzle."
I'll leave that puzzle to the experts. For now I need a lie down.
My session:
• Mobility
• Roller, stretching bands, trigger points
• Dynamic warm-up hurdles
• Sled 80kg 6 x 15m followed by 6 x 20m sprints
• Metabolic conditioning
• 88m, 20s with 20s rest. Two blocks of four
• 88m down up in 25s rest 20s. Two blocks of four
• Tyre flips and sprints. Flip large tyre, sprint 100m five times. Repeat 5x with 30s rest.
• 10 minute tabata – perfect form push-ups, squats, rope swings. 10s rest between exercise
• Bench press, pull ups, plank 3 sets of 4-5 reps, 180s rest
• Ice bath - 5 minutes at 13 degrees
The typical professional rugby week looks something like this:
Ten hours rugby training
One hour flexibility and/or mobility work
Four hours of strength training
One hour conditioning
All Blacks schedule:
Monday: Weights and rugby
Tuesday: Weights and field training
Wednesday: Day off
Thursday: Weights and field training
Friday: Captain's run
Saturday: Game day
Sunday: Recovery
