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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Dylan James

Wales pack entire gym into a lorry and send it to Switzerland as 70-strong group relocate for World Cup camp at ski resort

Wales loaded up their entire gym onto a lorry ahead of the next phase of World Cup preparations in Switzerland.

The players left home soil on Monday and arrived in Fiesch later that evening. When the team got to the resort, lightning could be seen across the night sky, which Liam Williams recorded and posted to social media.

The squad will be put through high altitude training, which will help to bolster their cardiovascular fitness ahead of a testing World Cup campaign in France later this year.

The logistics of running such an operation have been revealed by Wales team manager Martyn Williams and WRU assistant strength and conditioning coach John Ashby, who say moving 70 people and a raft of equipment across the continent is no easy task.

Watch the full interview and behind-the-scenes footage below:

"Logistically, it's been a big feat in Switzerland, because they're not actually a training facility - it's a ski resort and a summer camp for children," said Ashby.

"We've had to build a gym basically, there. We loaded the whole gym into a lorry on Friday, plus all the equipment, so there's a whole Artic lorry.

"We've also had to source rugby posts and pitch markings. Obviously rugby's not amazingly popular in Switzerland, so that took a bit of time. It's a huge logistical feat, but touch wood everything is going alright so far, and the importance of it is incredible.

"Although we have the benefits physiologically and environmentally, we still want to be able to do the exact same training as we can at the Vale in our locations. So it's very important to have the high standard of facilities."

Team manager Williams explained that new regulations since Brexit have had an impact. "I don't want to get too political, but Brexit has thrown a few red tape issues in for us with all the equipment getting out there," he said. "My kit man, Darren Joy, who's absolute gold, he's across everything in terms of dealing with all the freight. Everything is there in Turkey, whereas in Switzerland it's the complete opposite."

Players have been posting pictures and videos of the stunning scenery from their training base, which sits high up in the mountains. WRU footage posted this week has also shown players taking a cable car up to their accommodation.

The team will spend two weeks out in Fiesch before heading home and then moving on to a second overseas World Cup training camp in Turkey, where the squad is expected to be trimmed.

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