Craig Burden is interviewed for Sharks Magazine by Albert Heenop regarding his daring move from winger to hooker:
“I was also fortunate to go to Murray Mexted's International Rugby Academy (IRANZ), and that helped to kickstart my new role as hooker quite a lot.
IRANZ was an absolutely awesome experience. Just the facilities that they have there are in a league of their own, and the depth that they have in the coaching staff over there is out of this world; you get to work under really high-profile people like Eddie Jones (structure), Ian Jones (lineouts), Richard Loe (front rows), Paul Mitchell (hookers), Jeff Wilson (wingers), Christian Cullen (fullbacks) and the list goes on.
For me, that was the best and quickest way to learn
What they do is, they take two players in each position and then work on those two guys individually for a week. For example, in my case, they went over the scrumming, lineouts, running lines of a hooker.
You get so much individual attention from these absolute experts in your specific position. And the Kiwis are immensely passionate about the game; we regularly had up to four really intense training sessions a day.
We also had lectures on nutrition, mental preperation, public speaking... Which is why I'm doing so well with this interview! (Laughs)
No, seriously, they cover a lot of off-the-field stuff as well, which is vital for any player in the professional era. They put so much emphasis on yourself as player on and off the field.
Until I'd been to IRANZ, I hadn't been that focussed on mental preperation. But, they're really big into that over there and they taught me what an important role it plays.
I benefitted enormously from IRANZ. Most of all, though, it helped to fast-track me into the role of hooker.”