Wales gear up for Rugby World Cup at Marines boot camp

Wales’ World Cup preparations have involved their players being forced to wear hoods, subjected to the sound of babies crying, carrying logs and swimming underwater.

But Warren Gatland’s squad have embraced the unusual training methods and believe they can help them thrive at the upcoming tournament in France.

Last week, head coach Gatland’s extended training squad visited the Green Mile army-style fitness camp in Taff’s Well on the outskirts of Cardiff.

The aim of the exercise – which has bizarrely attracted criticism in some quarters – was to get Wales’ players outside of their comfort zone and challenge them mentally.

‘We didn’t really know what we were in for to be honest before we got there,’ said scrum-half Gareth Davies, who is preparing for his third World Cup and is no stranger to Gatland’s tactics.

The Wales team were pushed to their limits at an army-style training camp ahead of the World Cup later this year

Warren Gatland is no stranger to unusual training methods to get the best from his squad

‘It was a good day. We really enjoyed getting off site. It was a tough couple of hours physically – running up a steep hill with a log and jumping in a pool trying to do a lap under the pool without breathing. 

‘There was a lot of breathing work – trying to recover quicker and stuff like that.

‘We did that for a couple of hours with some power endurance and some wrestling and some circuits. That was the first block and then we had a mental challenge where they put us in some stressful positions. We weren’t allowed to talk for an hour.

‘They put a bag over our head so we couldn’t see where we were and they moved us around the camp.

‘There were some weird stressful noises in the background. It was good, quite challenging.

‘We knew it was going to be around the hour mark but it felt like we were there for three or four hours. We felt really good after it. 

‘We bonded well as a team and got some good positives from it. To do something different like that was good for us mentally. We really enjoyed it. It was tough but we came out of it feeling good.

Wales were last in action in March when they lost 41-28 to France in the Six Nations 

‘We didn’t have the coaches there – we had some ex-marines taking us. We had to respond differently to them. We had hoods over our heads in an awkward position with our arms up in the air for a couple of minutes.’

After returning as Wales boss late last year, Gatland’s first campaign back in charge was a disappointing Six Nations which involved poor on-field performances and off-field carnage.

The New Zealander has seen experienced players Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Ken Owens and Cory Hill all withdraw from the World Cup.

Prop Rhys Carre was also dropped for not meeting performance targets.

Gatland is nonetheless excited by his next generation coming through. Wales travel to Switzerland on Monday for a training camp in Fiesch where the players will be tested by the altitude in the Swiss Alps. 

One thing is for certain. Gatland is sure to test his squad even further in the months to come ahead of the start of World Cup warm-up matches in August.