It’s playing them at their own game…or their own cuisine.
Scotland’s rugby team have unveiled the secret weapon that they hope will bring them victory against Italy in the Six Nations... a supercharged pizza.
The squad have been building up their nutrition levels ahead of the clash at Murrayfield on Saturday by eating a healthy version of the Italian classic, created by Scots food company Eat Balanced.
The ground-breaking nine-inch pizzas, which have been created in collaboration with Professor Mike Lean and his team at the Department of Human Nutrition at Glasgow University, come in three flavours: cheese and cherry tomato, ham and pineapple and spicy chicken.
They are made from natural ingredients and provide all of the nutrients needed for a complete meal.
Richard Chessor, lead nutritionist at Scotland Rugby, said: “The Eat Balanced pizza is not only a great idea, it’s a great product too and one which can easily be integrated into players’ nutrition plans.
“Typically a pizza is seen as a guilty pleasure but the Eat Balanced pizza can be used as part of a fuelling or recovery strategy without the players being concerned about an excessive sugar or fat intake. They taste great too so it’s win-win.”
Eat Balanced now hope the pizzas will give the Scotland squad the edge they need in their battle against the Italians.
The team lost their first match of the 6 Nations to England at Twickenham last weekend.
Donnie Maclean, founder of Eat Balanced, said: “I’m delighted that the team’s using our pizzas as their secret weapon. It’s ironic because pizza is an Italian product but we’ve reinvented it and supercharged it.
“The team’s lead nutritionist understands the benefits of what we’re trying to do and these pizzas will make it easier for the players to get what they need and fuel them up for the game.
“It’s a great endorsement and it adds credibility to our product, if it’s good enough for finely tuned athletes, it’s good enough for everyone.”
Eat Balanced healthy pizzas are available from Sainsbury’s and Asda stores across Scotland.
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