Gatland should look to the youth when it comes to choosing a Rugby World Cup captain to breathe new life into the team. Since Warren Gatland returned to Wales as head coach last December, the New Zealander’s stories in press conferences and podcasts have covered not only Wales’ preparations for September’s Rugby World Cup, but also the 2027 RWC in Australia.
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Much has been made of the team’s age profile and many in Welsh rugby criticize Gatland’s predecessor Wayne Peevak for holding on to older players for too long. One of the qualities that Gatland has always had is knowing when to stick or twist.
This is by far the biggest challenge in Gatland’s coaching career as he will have to break up the squad and rebuild it for the future. The Rugby World Cup will be dedicated to New Wales, a team littered with underappreciated newcomers, uncompromising and upsetting.
We are against the world mentality, if you will. With the likes of Alan Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tipurik and Rhys Webb out of the equation, it’s time for the likes of Tommy Reffell, Mason Grady and Sam Costelow. But what about captaincy? Do you think Gatland will definitely go with the seasoned Dan Biggar, who played the part during the twilight years of the Peewack era, or even the ever-reliable Adam Beard?
Building the Backbone for the Future
Wales had lost a lot of potential captaincy contenders with Jones, Tipurik, Owens and Webb out of the equation, and while Gatland could turn to Biggar or even Taulupe Faletau, there was an opportunity to inject some fresh energy into this team with a young captain.
Possibly, but I hope not. It’s a new kind of Wales squad with a fresh feel that could definitely benefit from a new voice leading from the front and shouting orders in the dressing room. As said, Gatland’s challenge is not only to get Wales to a decent Rugby World Cup finish in the shortest possible time, but also to build the backbone of a team that can move towards Australia in 2027.
With that in mind, the argument for a young captain in his 20s is more compelling as the pair of Ospreys Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan are real contenders. Wales need a captain in the long run who they can build a team around.
Of course, Gatland has done this before, appointing 22-year-old Sam Warburton to captain the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and Australian Michael Hooper also led his country at that age. It would make sense to create a group of experienced leaders, but with a young figurehead like Lake or Morgan at the helm, to signal the changing of the guard and a new era.
When asked at a recent press conference if he thought the young captain would take charge of the Welsh squad in France, Gatland replied: “Yes, definitely. Let’s hope he follows through. As for the author, the prostitute Lake must be one of the young shooters. The 24-year-old is two years older than Warburton was in 2011 and a natural leader among men. Rugby World Cup fans can buy Wales Rugby World Cup Tickets from our website.
Lake as the Favorite for Rugby World Cup Match Against Fiji
With Owens out of the equation, Lake is the favorite for Wales’ first Rugby World Cup match against Fiji in Bordeaux on September 10, although Ryan Elias and Elliot Dee are no suckers. Lake is exactly the kind of player Gatland has always admired; very physical, confrontational, dynamic, yet his breakaway work is better than many back rowers.
His lineout shot is still in development but is very similar in style to South African Rugby World Cup winner Malcolm Marks. Lake seems to be very comfortable with the press and respected by the players when he captained the Wales U20 team that defeated New Zealand in 2019.
The other contender is his regional teammate Morgan, who is also the former captain of the Wales under-20s. The 23-year-old is a phenomenal prospect and it is not an exaggeration to say that he has the potential to become one of the best rowers in world rugby.
Long-Term Potential as Key Wales Player
Hailing from the former mining village of Brinamman in the Amman Valley, Morgan has his feet firmly on the ground and his ego is out of sight. He is highly respected by the players in Wales and is dedicated on and off the pitch, but what made him different as U20 captain was how he treated the referees.
All open sides, perhaps more than any other position, should be on the right side of the judges given how hotly contested the breakdown is and the fine line between playing on the edge and overstepping the mark. Morgan has shades of Warburton in his prime, not just stylistically but his relationship with the judges, which is impressive.
Fitness permitting, each will be a key Wales player at Test level for at least the next few Rugby World Cups. And Gatland will look to develop not only world class players but leaders as well. jobs in Welsh sports. Gatland needs to repeat what he did to Warburton and give it to one of his young guns.
Bennett happy to see Welsh players ‘flying’ in training
There are no surprises for the 46 Welsh players who will spend two weeks in the Swiss Alps. Twice-a-day training ramps up in the live high, train low camp, and WRU fitness head Hugh Bennett stayed true to the one promise he made to the players that they would work hard.
Coming to Fish is definitely the highlight of our pre-season. This is something we’ve been planning for a long time and have had a good training block so far. Who is competing in his third RWC as a fitness coach.
Most of the players have been with us for just over seven weeks now. In the way the season ended. We benefited from a disadvantage – we had more players from day one. So we had a good time with a large core of the group.
To be fair to the guys, even in the off-season they did the work that we set for ourselves and came in good shape. We were lucky to adjust along the way and introduce more rugby earlier than planned which was great. This is the third time we have come to Fish for a high-altitude camp. It’s a live high, train low method, which is why we live at 2400 meters in the Fischer Alp.
Positive Attitude and Belief in the Training Approach
There you get natural adaptations to life at altitude. Such as increased hemoglobin mass and better oxygen transport throughout the body. If you are training at a low level. This means that you are not compromising on the intensity of your workouts. Rugby World Cup fans can buy Wales vs Australia Tickets from our website.
Guys have a natural adaptation when they are at the top. And when they come down we don’t have to hold back in terms of our intensity and accuracy. There is no excuse for things to fall. There are other benefits as well, and we think it works very well. Players descend by gondola in 10 minutes and know what awaits them and what to expect.
They can see other groups working on the field as they come down and think they are there to work hard and do their job. When they get back upstairs, they switch off and enjoy each other’s company. The mini camps we had at home were all about building resilience and laying the foundation for our fitness. In Switzerland so we can push them harder and take things to the next level.
“All the boys believe in what we are doing and they have a very good attitude towards everything that happens here. Sometimes we give them an idea of what the session will be like, but sometimes we let the rumors go around because what they say is pretty funny.”
From the very beginning of mini-camps. Players have been asked to rate their difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10. RPE – a measure of perceived workload – has definitely gone up a notch in Switzerland, but that’s not all.
Focus on Rugby Training
Every four years you see a big change in the way you do things. We are coming here for the third time, but we are making adjustments this is not a copy and paste exercise.
Going back to 2003 when I first became a player, there is a difference between how things are done. Everyone is trying to get the most out of their team. We have a plan and the support we have received from players and coaches allows us to get the most out of it.
We had a lot of 10s in our session rankings. If they put eights, they just aren’t working hard enough. Yesterday (Saturday) there were definitely a few dozen. We are working on two-, three-day blocks and we are concentrating a little more on and around rugby training. These are single days on the field.
In the last week, they will work in two, two-day blocks, in the morning and in the afternoon with weights. There will be a bit more rugby during these double sessions. You have to plan everything properly so as not to break people you don’t want to lead them into dark places just for the sake of it.
We have a number of basic tests that we use to evaluate players and they are superior to the numbers they set at the end of training camp in Switzerland last time. In 2015, we had a week and a half before we arrived in Switzerland. In 2019, the dynamics were different because it was Switzerland, then the games, and then the Turkish camp.
Maintaining Top Condition for the Rugby World Cup
“Now we have had a longer period in Switzerland, then we go to Turkey and then we start our games. Speaking to the players, they feel in a much better place. Even on our first four days in Switzerland, than when we left here last time.”
Three weeks away from the Vodafone summer series. Warren Gatland’s team will play England home and away, and then the reigning world champions South Africa. The first game of the Rugby World Cup will take place on September 10 in Bordeaux against Fiji.
The hard work will continue until then, and the size of the training team will be reduced after returning from Switzerland and then from Turkey. We have to keep working hard during the warm-up period because although the games against England and South Africa are huge test matches, they are not the Rugby World Cup, added Bennett.
Don’t get me wrong, you want the players to come out and perform well, they put on the red jersey. But you don’t want to put them in a situation where they don’t feel prepared or tired. Of course it has that element, but the end goal is to be in top condition for the first game of the Rugby World Cup.
Meanwhile, Bennett thinks about how to keep the players as Fish’s camp moves into week two. Four years ago, he had an innovative idea: paragliding to practice with fellow trainer Bobby Stregen. When the Welsh players looked up from their practice field on Sunday, they would have seen at least 25 paragliders hovering high above them in the sky. Will there be another one they follow this week?
Creative Approach to Recharging
Bobby and I picked up where we left off four years ago, explained Bennett. Who has played three World Cups and won 51 caps. Nine days had passed in the camp, and it seemed that the players needed some kind of recharge. At that time, the gondolas that we brought to the driving range from our hotel only arrived every 30 minutes, so there was a lot of emphasis that if you missed a gondola, you would get a fine.
We staged it by running up to the gondola and just skipping it. The guys warmed up downstairs. And we took off to the field on a paraglider to the music from Mission Impossible. I don’t want to repeat what we did back then, but we might have something up our sleeve.
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