Leinster Rugby Performance Nutritionist Reveals Players’ Monstrous Daily Diet

That’s a lot of calories.

Leinster have picked up where the Irish rugby team have left off in recent weeks with some super PRO12 and Champions Cup performances. The Irish province currently sit second in the PRO12 and top their Champions Cup pool after back to back bonus-point wins over Northampton.

In order to be at the very best of your game, diet is just as important as training and fitness, especially at elite level and it’s safe to say, Leinster are doing it right.

Daniel Davey is a performance nutritionist who is working with the Dublin footballers and the Leinster rugby team and has been speaking to Balls.ie as part of their Laya Healthcare #BehindTheTeam series.

Here’s what the the average daily diet of a Leinster player consists of:

Leinster players’ diet

Morning

Porridge with fresh berries, nuts and seeds. Alongside some eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes.

Post training snack

Potatoes, rice or noodles with a beef or chicken breast stir-fry, bolognese or something similar

Afternoon

Recovery smoothie with bananas, berries, yogurt, whey and some juice

Late afternoon

Rice cakes with nut butter, sliced apples and a salad. With a glass of milk

Evening

A large dinner with fish (salmon), haddock, cod), salad and roast veg

Late snack

Yogurt, mixed berries and/or nut butter. Some prefer dark chocolate with green tea.

Calorie count per day: 3,500-4,500

Leinster have been next to unstoppable this season, with their diet clearly fuelling their performances.