Joe Moody and Codie Taylor
If you’re worried about the All Blacks not eating well while they’re in a different country, never fear. Front rowers Joe Moody and Codie Taylor opened up about their diet today at the team hotel in Beppu, admitting that while they had sampled plenty of local fare, things weren’t too different from back home in Aotearoa.
“We’ve had pretty amazing food. The restaurants we go have been putting on really good spreads, in Japan they really know how to cook a feed” Taylor said.
“We’ve had a bit of both” he said in reference to local and western food.
“We have a Japanese day once a week when have sushi and sashimi which is quite nice. The boys made a pig of themselves at a Yakuniku (traditional Japanese barbecue), I think Joe ended up eating about two and a half kgs of beef”
While that was a bit of a joke, Moody confirmed that the team is under a strict regime of skin fold measurements. The front rowers are allowed a bit of excess to absorb the sort of hits they are taking.
“We need a bit more cushion for the pushin’” he said.
The All Blacks next opponents are Canada, who they will play in Oita next Wednesday. It should be a very one-sided game, with the Canadians opening their campaign last night with a 48-7 loss to Italy in Fukuoka.
Until then, though, the All Blacks will have plenty to chew over as they get closer to the business end of the campaign.