Rugby World UK – August 2019

breakfast for too long! All the
information is updated on Wales’
systems, with the back-room staff
alerted to any red flags straightaway.
“We’ve been doing that for 12 months
and have robust baselines for everyone,
so we’ll get an email notification with
anything out of the norm before they’re
through the door,” explains sports
scientist Ryan Chambers. He adds that if
a player has reported being unwell they
might be sent back to their room to try
to prevent other members of the squad
getting ill, or if someone is feeling stiff
they can modify their training for that
day. Similarly, if a player is in a good
mood and has a clean bill of health, they
could add an extra set of weights.
“It goes both ways – you can pull back
or push,” says Chambers. “It informs the
conversation on physical and medical
performance. It’s not always coach-led
either. It’s giving players more awareness
of their bodies and gives them a tool for
what their body feels like.
“It (the monitoring) doesn’t replace a
chat; it’s more objective, then you can
have a conversation to check in with
the players and be more subjective.”
There are conversations aplenty over
breakfast. The media department have
stumbled across a picture of Alan
Phillips’s 1980 wedding and Warren
Gatland takes great delight in relaying
to the team manager: “You had hair!”

It’s the forwards up first and after some

mobility and stretching drills, it’s into a

skills session. Howley has arranged

rows of balls on the side of the indoor

pitch – standard balls, those with no

grip and others covered in silver tape.

Then those rows are repeated again,

only this time all three types have been

covered in baby oil. “It’s to replicate the

sweat on the ball in the humidity of

Japan,” explains Howley, who then

guides his charges to the side of the

wall where a rope has been erected

a little above waist-height.

Players work in pairs (or trios when it’s

the backs) and have to pass from above

Behind The Scenes

Light moment

Warren Gatland

shares a joke

Pumped

Gareth Davies

in the gym

Mr Motivator

Paul Stridgeon keeps

energy levels up

Players catch up at adjacent tables

or go through footage of the previous

day’s training on the block of analysis

screens. The food options are many,

from fruit and yoghurt to bacon and

eggs to freshly-made omelettes. Chef

Andre Moore has worked with the team

for half-a-dozen years, travelling with

them overseas as well as taking charge

of the cooking at the Vale to ensure the

squad’s nutritional needs are met.

Rob Howley ensures Rugby World’s

caffeine needs are met by making us a

coffee, although George North’s offering

at lunchtime raises the bar somewhat

with the wing’s impressive latte art.

Once appetites are satiated, it’s time

for the short walk to the WRU Centre

of Excellence – a giant building that

houses an artificial pitch, huge gym,

cryotherapy chambers, altitude room

and medical centre, as well as offices for

the coaches, analyst teams and so on.

Finishing touch Hallam Amos gets kitted out for an afternoon training session in the Vale of Glamorgan