WALES

New Welsh fitness coach beats the drum

Thursday 17th July 2008

Craig White: Only a short wait until the SA rematch

Welsh rugby's new fitness expert Craig White has marked his first months in the international set-up - which included a two-match losing tour of South Africa in June - by suggesting Wales could have won a third Test against the World Champions if one had been played.

White was speaking in the full knowledge that he has only three months to wait to see if his prophecy can come true.

The Springboks are Wales' next opponents when they pitch up at the Millennium Stadium to kick-start the November Tests on Saturday November 8, with tickets on sale to the general public as soon as this Friday (July 18)

"We showed what we could do in the second Test in South Africa and maybe we could've beaten them in a third, because our guys would've been on a level par by then in terms of match fitness," said the former Leicester Tigers, London Wasps and British Lions conditioning guru.

"If we keep our players fit and injury-free we'd be disappointed if we didn't beat the South Africans at the Millennium Stadium in November."

White's credentials are well known to head coach Gatland and fellow charges Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley after he spent a successful time with the trio at Wasps, and time with the British& Irish Lions.

"We made our mark at Wasps and were able to put structures in place and work to our own philosophy," said White.

"Myself, Warren, Shaun and Rob all know what success looks like and hopefully we can bring that with us at international level and take it out to the regions as well.

"Part of the reason I took the job is that I knew I would be working in that kind of environment again.

"There's no substitute for being around people you trust, that allows for healthy conflict and healthy decision making. The result is a black and white environment with everyone working towards the same aim and no hiding place.

"We know exactly what the culture needs to be off the field to ensure success on it and we will do all in our power to recreate that here."

Gatland has said openly that he thinks Wales are two years away from achieving their full potential as a team and White doesn't disagree, despite his strong views about the European Champions' chances against the SANZAR nations and Canada in the Autumn.

"The starting point is we'd like to think we can compete in November, but we want to be level pegging with the Southern Hemisphere sides year on year," he said.

"We know we don't have the same players from a genetic point of view and we don't have the sheer scale of numbers so the answer is to meticulously prepare 'off the field' and use every method available to make our top players reach their full potential, not only from a conditioning perspective, but from a total performance enhancement perspective.

"We need to invest in every ounce of scientific information which can make us better, every facet of scientific support must be utilized.

"It all comes into play to make us a better team."

And White is already investing every second of his own available time in Wales' current and future international players by embarking on an outreach programme throughout the regions.

"My time at the moment is taken up with getting out to the regions and, put simply, lending an extra pair of hands," he continued.

"I've been dividing my time between the Blues and the Dragons and Mark Bennett (fellow national team fitness coach) has been to the Ospreys and the Scarlets in alternate weeks.

"We aren't going out and telling the regions what to do, but just turning up and seeing how we can help and offering advice.

"One of the major things for me as a fitness coach has been to educate my coaches about the need for extra trainers throughout my career.

"A coach will want to see results in individuals from a conditioning programme and the only way to do that is to train in small numbers and have a fitness coach responsible for a small group of players. You've got to create a 'net' where no player can fall through.

"The biggest thing we can do to help at regional level is to just be around as often as we can and to get stuck in and get our hands dirty.

"From our point of view it does mean we can keep an eye on the international players and we are improving lines of communication from the national set-up through the regions, but primarily we want to invest our time in the regions and have a positive impact on the regional programs.

"Mark Bennett, and Andrew Hore before him, has done a great job with our international players and we now want to take them to the next level.

"Coaches talk about increasing training intensity, but when you work harder something has to give at the other end. Therefore what you don't do becomes as important as what you do.

"Three or four day breaks in a training period, for example, can allow for periods of high intensity training, what you can't do is just keep going indefinitely.

"The same idea is taken up by those coaches who are keen on squad rotation. If you look at the top teams in England and elsewhere, the likes of Munster and the Leicester rotate players.

"Munster, for example, will play their top players for no more than three or four games in a row and then back-off. They'll then re-introduce those players after they've been allowed a break."