New Wales training is even more brutal than Gatland's infamous bootcamps

Wales Online

22-06-2025

New Wales training is even more brutal than Gatland's infamous bootcamps
Josh Adams and his team-mates have been pushed to their limits ahead of the trip to Japan
The Welsh Rugby team during extreme heat training, where the air temperature was 38.8 degrees celsius and 85.7 humidity - Josh Adams during training
(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd )
Josh Adams says the gruelling preparations ahead of the upcoming tour of Japan outrank anything he and his Wales team-mates have experienced before.
Temperatures in Japan are expected to soar close to 40°C when Wales head out there next month for the opening match of their two-Test tour, with the opening match pencilled in for July 5 at Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushu. In a bid to cope with the expected heat, Wales have gone through a series of stomach-turning training sessions at their Vale Resort base.
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The squad has been doing gym work in a special chamber recently, where the heating has been turned up to over 38°C, leaving players exhausted and drenched in their own sweat.
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Adams says many of the players have already been left close to breaking point, and says it's even tougher than the two-week training camp under Warren Gatland in Fiesch, which aimed to get the players up to speed with the increase in altitude ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
"I came out of the chamber on Friday and some boys were like, that's the hardest thing I've ever done and then I was like, it's got to be in the top three worst I've felt after a session," Adams said.
"It was really bad, genuine, because it's really stuffy as you go. So you're on a bike, salt bike, rower, SkiErg, and there's certain times and calories you've got to do.
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"But you're all crammed in there so it's really uncomfortable like when you're knackered and you want a bit of space just to breathe, you can't because it's so hot and stuffy and everyone's rubbing against each other.
"You're trying to not agitate each other because it's so cramped. But the boys have managed pretty well, no one's tapped out yet so we're doing alright.
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"That chamber is good because we have used it for altitude in the past and now we've got the heat and humidity up.
"I don't how much it cost, must be a few quid but it's unbelievable sort of facility to use.
"I think it was 35/36 degrees and then like 87% humidity. It's brutal, horrible,"
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To make matters even more gruelling, the amount of water made available to players is limited for the session.
"We're weighing in before and after," he added. "We take one bottle of water, you ration it for the whole session.
"Not because they want to be horrible, but it gives them a better gauge of how much fluids we lose.
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"Some boys are losing between probably three and five kilos, the bigger boys. The most I was down was three kilos. so it's a considerable amount of weight.
"There's a lot of fluid then you've got to re-drink to get your body back to some sort of base level. The worst part is cooling down. You let your body regulate the cold temperature, that's the worst part.
"They don't want us hopping in ice baths and everything. You can't in the game well, maybe you could half-time, but boys wouldn't.
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"So it's trying to get your body to regulate this body temperature, cold temperature, back to normal."
Footage posted on social media showed some of the Wales players relaxing in a hot-tub in another attempt to acclimatise, while the predicted sweaty conditions are also being recreated in some of the ball work on the training ground.
To try and replicate what the players might face on the pitch in Japan, they've been using rugby balls dipped in soapy water in a bid to get to grips with the handling challenges that may arise.
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"Yeah we have [been doing that]," Adams confirmed. "Not for your proper big rugby session but when we're doing small bits of skills, we've had a ball in a bit of water.
"Also we've been doing skills straight out of the heat chamber, so the heat's wrapped right up in there.
"I think it was 37 degrees and 88% humidity the other day when we did a sort of off-field conditioning session and then came straight down and got into some skills.
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"So trying to copy what the climate would be like out there as best we can and try and make it as comfortable as it can for us, so we're in a good space to cope with anything."