Wales are preparing for the summer tour of Japan where the heat and humidity will be unlike anything many of the players have experienced
Wales’ rugby players were left exhausted and soaked in sweat after coaches went to extreme measures to prepare them for what lies ahead in Japan this summer.
The Welsh team face temperatures that will feel close to 40°C next month, with humidity levels in Japan expected to be at 85% during the two-Test tour, which begins on July 5 at Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushu.
Ahead of the trip, Matt Sherratt’s squad are being put through gruelling training sessions at their Vale Hotel training base, where the heating in the gym has been turned on to get temperatures up to more than 38°C.
A video released by the WRU shows the players training on exercise and assault bikes, as well as skiing and rowing machines, in a conditioning session that left many out on their feet and literally drenched in their own sweat as they were taken aback by the heat in which they were forced to train.
This is not the first time a Welsh team has gone to extreme lengths to try and replicate the severe conditions in a country like Japan.
Ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Warren Gatland had staff cover the rugby balls used in training with baby oil to get the players used to the sweaty and slippery conditions.
The tour will be a new experience for many of the young players in the squad, although the likes of Elliot Dee, Aaron Wainwright and Josh Adams were part of that 2019 squad.
Former Wales internationals Jamie Roberts and Lou Reed recently tried to explain how difficult it was to play rugby in the suffocating humidity of Japan, with Reed describing the heat being like that which hits you when opening an oven door.
He added: “My heart rate was the highest it’s ever been in a Welsh jersey. I think they thought I was having a stroke.”
The WRU will be hoping the tour to Japan can be a real turning point in the trajectory of the national side, who have now lost 17 Test matches in a row following another dismal Six Nations campaign earlier this year that resulted in the departure of Warren Gatland.
The search for a new permanent head coach is ongoing, with Sherratt drafted in for the trip to Japan after receiving positive feedback from players during his interim spell earlier this year following Gatland’s exit.
Sherratt is desperate to leave the new head coach in a stronger position heading into the autumn internationals by finally ending the losing run that has weighed heavily on the players for over a year.
“I just think it’s a really good opportunity to lay a foundation,” he said.
“I think the big picture needs to be looked at by someone who’s coming in on a long-term contract, this will be about laying a foundation, trying to get to Japan and win a Test match and then the guy who comes in next can build on the future.”
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