Warren Gatland has revealed details of the innovative way Wales are challenging the players psychologically ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
Wales recently spent a morning at The Green Mile army-style fitness camp in Taffs Well, taking on a series of physical challenges but also being put outside their comfort zone mentally as they learned to deal with difficult situations on the hoof.
A series of videos from inside Wales camp have been released by the Welsh Rugby Union in recent weeks, with the Union itself, and subsequently media, describing the training sessions as "brutal".
But Gatland questioned the use of that word, instead pointing to the mix of hard work, rugby skills development, mental challenges and also downtime the coaches have included in their preparations.
Gatland went on to reveal how players had been placed in hoods, doused in water and subjected to the sound of babies crying during the visit to The Green Mile, before enjoying a beer and some lunch after their efforts.
Asked how hard he was working his players, Gatland said: "Well, every time someone says that to me the headline seems to be ‘brutal this and that’ and I am going ...they are tough but every training session is not brutal, every training session there might be an element of conditioning, fitness or power endurance - the boys are in the gym - and we are making sure we do our skill work.
"We went to the Green Mile with the army and it was a brilliant day but it wasn’t brutal. It was more from a psychological challenge that we put them through. They did some power endurance stuff, they were carrying logs uphill and then having to go into a pool. We were talking about putting them in uncomfortable positions, where ‘how do you bring your heart rate down? How do you get your composure back?
"They did some stuff where we had them put in hoods, having water tipped over them when they weren’t expecting it. Babies crying, things going off, and it wasn’t a full day. We went there in the morning and finished about 1pm. The boys had a bit of lunch, we put some beers on - some had a beer and stayed there for about an hour and enjoyed each other’s company and had some laughs, had some photos with the guys, presented them with a jersey, it was a really good company that was a little bit different.
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"Huw Bennett organised it and he was worried about how it was going to go, a bit apprehensive about the day but all the feedback we got from the players was really positive. It was different and made them think about things from a different perspective, in terms of being in stressful situations, being in a game where you don’t expect things and how do you react to that.
"You make a mistake, you come under a huge amount of pressure, how do you get your composure back, trying to relate to those situations. Yeah we’ve been working hard but every day is not brutal, I can promise you that."
