Will Stuart reveals he has started taping his MOUTH while sleeping

Will Stuart has revealed that his extreme commitment to England’s new sleep science techniques left him waking up in a panic in the early hours – due to having his mouth taped shut.

The Bath prop is the senior tighthead in the Red Rose squad on this tour of Australia and he is also renowned as a champion sleeper in the ranks. 

But the 25-year-old has embraced methods designed to improve the benefits of nocturnal rest, even though it caused initial anxiety.

It was during the pre-tour training camps when England brought in a sleep scientist to address the players and Stuart has taken on even the most uncomfortable advice in the pursuit of a marginal gain. 

‘I’ve started taping my mouth for sleeping,’ he said. ‘You tape up your lips so you make sure that you nasal breathe when you’re sleeping. It’s very good, actually. It’s supposed to be a lot more efficient oxygen intake.’

When met with an incredulous request to confirm that this is not a wind-up, and that he really does tape his mouth before going to bed, Stuart added: ‘Yeah, yeah. It is weird at first. 

The 25-year-old has embraced methods designed to improve the benefits of nocturnal rest

‘You wake up in the middle of the night a couple of times like “what the f*** is going on”? You’re gasping for air, especially with a blocked nose.

‘But you don’t get that feeling – especially when the air con is on in your room – of waking up with your mouth feeling like you’ve been dragged through the desert. 

‘You don’t get that and you feel a bit more awake. So it’s better, but it is hard to get used to.’

The use of tape in this way was just one approach Stuart adopted after the sleep scientist’s visit. Most of the other recommendations were more mundane. 

Most of the other recommendations that Bath prop Stuart has embraced are more mundane

‘A lot of the stuff was about winding down for an hour before sleep,’ said Stuart, ‘and she wasn’t too happy with two or three-hour naps after training! 

‘There was a lot of stuff about caffeine intake and making sure your bed is primarily used for sleeping rather than sitting on it snacking or watching TV. She hated watching TV in bed.

‘There were a lot of little things which were easily changeable and I’ve started trying to do them. 

‘No phones in bed was one thing. Any blue lights before going to sleep is pretty bad, she said. 

‘The recommended nap time was specifically 27 minutes or something like that, but if you go above 27 minutes, make sure it’s 90 minutes, so you get a full sleep cycle.’

Stuart certainly managed a few full sleep cycles on the flight from London to Perth last week – a total of 12 hours in fact. But he is not the only prop with a knack for dozing off. 

Stuart is not the only prop with a knack for dozing off, as Mako Vunipola also loves to sleep

‘Mako (Vunipola) is probably up there as well,’ he said. ‘I’ve roomed with him before. I don’t think we spoke for about three days, we just slept. It was a couple of deep sleepers.’

The last week has involved a battle to shake off jet-lag, for someone who has never played outside of Europe before.

Stuart’s year in the England Under 20s involved a World Cup in Manchester and he missed lower age-group trips to South Africa due to injury. 

In more recent times, Covid has prevented the national team from venturing to the southern hemisphere since an away series against the Springboks in 2018.

So Stuart is out of his comfort zone, but that is nothing new for a player who reluctantly transitioned from fly-half to midfield to No 8 and eventually, kicking and screaming all the way, to the front row. 

He endured several educational ordeals as he got to grips with being at the sharp end of the scrum contest. The secret was just to keep taking the pain and coming back for more.

Stuart reluctantly transitioned from fly-half to midfield to No 8 and eventually to the front row

‘When I started playing men’s rugby, I was horrendous at it (scrummaging),’ he said. ‘Terrible. I played in Nat 1 at Blackheath, I had my first A league game there and I genuinely thought the five-metre push rule was still there. 

‘So they drove me over about 10 metres for a push-over try and I was complaining to the ref because I had no idea that the rule had stopped. I was dreadful until about Under 20s when I started getting it a little bit more. I was dreadful for a good year-and-a-half.

‘Specifically for front-rowers, there is a real value to going out on loan. Covid has ruined it for a lot of academy lads now, especially at Bath. 

‘There are a few lads who have hardly played over the last few years. They play the odd arranged fixture but the A league hasn’t been going on properly. As a prop, you just need to play as much as possible.

‘I found the Championship so hard, because I was still getting better at scrums. In the Prem, because I’d been through that, I actually found it a bit easier. That’s what you need. You need to go into the cauldron a bit.’

Rookie props are often subjected to savage set-piece examinations at the hands of wily, experienced opponents in the Championship and national leagues, and Stuart endured that right of passage. 

Recalling one particularly gruelling episode, he added: ‘I had one at Coventry away – at Butts Park Arena. I nearly got red-carded for scrum infringements.

In the absence of Kyle Sinckler, Stuart has a prime opportunity to stake a claim to the No 3 shirt

‘I can’t remember the prop’s name. I’d love to remember his name. I’d just turned 19. I’d knocked the ball on to start off with so then it was their scrum, then I gave away a penalty, they scrummed again on our line about two minutes later and I kept on giving penalties away.

‘I got yellow-carded and came back on for the next set of scrums which was on our line again and I gave away four penalties in a row. The ref said, “One more penalty and you’re getting red carded”, so they subbed me off after 24 minutes.

‘I was getting booed by the Cov fans and I think they then realised that I was an academy player at Wasps and I was getting absolutely heckled. At that point, I was like, “I don’t think I can be a prop. There’s no way I’m going to be good enough”.’

In time, he became good enough and now – in the absence of Kyle Sinckler – has a prime opportunity to stake a claim to the No 3 shirt which Bristol’s Lion has dominated for several years. 

Stuart is in a confrontational position, but he won’t seek to reach boiling point as he prepares to take on the Wallabies here on Saturday. He is a calmer figure now.

‘I went through the stage of really trying to rev myself up,’ he said. ‘I used to put on quite aggressive rock music before games, but I don’t think it did much for me. Now I’ve found that if I’m relaxed for as long as possible, I feel better going into games.’