Rugby fans watching England’s explosive renaissance at the recent Six Nations might have been left wondering just what they’d had for breakfast.
One person who knows the answer is James Morehen, men’s performance nutritionist at the Rugby Football Union and part of a backroom team that has helped Steve Borthwick’s young side emerge from the doldrums and become a force again.
“It’s a massive team effort. We’ve got a very, very talented young group of players coming through, all gearing up for the 2027 World Cup, and we’re all very excited to develop the players,” he tells City AM.
“Between myself and the chef, it’s down to us to design a menu that helps support these players, fuel and recover from the demands of test match rugby correctly. All of that together, moving in the right direction, that’s where developments with teams happen. And yeah, we had a good Six Nations.”
Morehen, who also works with Bristol Bears, boxers and racing drivers as well as private clients, is with the England squad every day they’re in camp. His job is to teach them good habits – how much protein they need, how much coffee is too much – and favours a collaborative approach.
“I’ve spent the last 18 months with those players, really getting to know them as blokes and as fathers,” he says. “Then once you’ve got that relationship it’s very easy for me to nudge them in the right direction and they’re like, ‘Okay, yeah, cool, got it’.”
From England rugby to City traders
Athletes are taking an interest in diet, having been exposed to material such as the hit Netflix documentary about veganism, The Game Changers, and of lifestyle and fitness influencers on social media. It’s a conversation starter, even if the proliferation of bogus advice is “a growing issue”, Morehen says.
He adds: “One of the problems with social media is that anyone can stand there in a sports bra or some trunks with a six pack, and go, ‘This is how you get a body like this’. But they’re not actually registered nutritionists, they haven’t actually studied the industry of nutrition and food.” In some cases, influencers may even be using substances banned in elite sport.
Away from rugby, Morehen advises boxers Chris Billam-Smith and Adam Azim, and racing driver Jamie Chadwick. He also has corporate clients “who run their own businesses and want to smash a Hyrox or Ironman at the weekend. What I love about those individuals is that, in their own right, they are still elite performers.”
He has his work cut out at one City trading firm, where some “guys there are living off of Red Bulls and a cigarette for breakfast. I say to them, ‘Look, you can stay doing this, but you’re trying to trade on barrels of oil that are worth a million dollars a day. And if you make one decimal point mistake, that could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Morehen has some sobering advice for those in the Square Mile who like a lunchtime beer. “One pint is the [calorific] equivalent of a Mars bar, so if you’re having that pub lunch three times a week you’re having six Mars bars a week,” he says. “Anyone will know that that’s probably the reason they’ve got the beer belly.”
James Morehen can be found on LinkedIn and Instagram and writes a newsletter here.
