Oh, the life of a professional.

On the one hand, it looks good. You get fed, watered, you get to go on tour with mates and you get to float around pools and jacuzzis living it up in fancy hotels. On the other hand, there are 6am gym sessions. Pitch sessions. Lung-bursting games. Injuries. Contracts. Pain. Regret. There's a real grind to better yourself, to constantly improve, to constantly lift. Those facets of professional rugby were never better demonstrated this week.

Lions

The Lions used Thursday's session to recover from Wednesday's game with the Highlanders. Sam Warburton's arms don't fit in the tub. Jared Payne's in decent nick. Jack McGrath in reflective mood. Curious George. Conor Murray takes his swimming seriously. A few good men. CJ Stander even does relaxation better than everyone else.

All Blacks

New Zealand are on a different schedule. Steven Hansen's men take on Samoa on Friday and, by Jesus, they were readying for it with a serious leg session in the gym. Kieran Read's upper body form in the front squat looks solid. Serious air time on the jump squats. Always use a barbell clamp. Deadlifts. Conor Murray has better balance than Aaron Smith. Israel Dagg looks like an animal in the snatch. He could've done with that before he tried to tackle Julian Savea... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo3QVDjA03U