Room 101: Andy Saull – Newcastle flanker

1. Cutting your toe-nails
After a day where you’ve been running around in training and lifting weights in the gym your body is invariably tired and achy and the last thing you want to do is to try and bend over and hold your foot in a static position whereby you can cut your toe nails straight. It is nigh on impossible to do that without leaving jagged edges or cutting them too far down, which really stings. I put off doing it for ages – not to the extent where they are all curled over, I’m far too vain for that, but it’s definitely not something I look forward to doing. At Saracens we were fortunate enough to have a chiropodist come in once a month and I used to seize the opportunity to get my toe nails done then.
TRP verdict:  Time to be a chipper clipper because you’ve made it into Room 101.
2. Exaggerated laughs
People who laugh louder and longer at a joke, no matter how unfunny it is, as if they understand it more than the rest of the people in the room, really wind me up. This stems from my university days when the lecturer would try and liven things up and attempt to be humorous and someone would always suck up to them by going OTT on the laughter front. In a way, such behaviour could be attributed to the origins of the acronym LOL, which I dislike too to be honest. By all means have a chuckle but don’t do it purely for effect.
TRP verdict:  What’s the saying…grinners are winners? You lose.
3. Captain’s run
We do a Captain’s Run the day before a game without fail. Normally it is just a case of going back over everything you’ve done in the week just to make sure it has all sunk in. Eighteen weeks into the season, though, you really shouldn’t need reminding about what needs doing and, in my opinion, there is no practical or physiological benefit to be had. I think the Captain’s Run continues more for traditional reasons than anything else and we’d all be better off having a day’s rest instead. I can see why a Captain’s Run happens if you’re at a new stadium and you need to familiarise yourselves with a different environment, especially for big occasions like a cup final, but when you’re at home, is it really necessary?
TRP verdict:  Take a lap of honour, that’s two out of three.