So far Wales have been spared the expected hot temperatures in the moderate climate of Canberra, where they have been based, with all three pool-games having been played in the evening.
But with the southern hemisphere summer on the way, players are bracing themselves for new physical demands during training.
“The weather hasn’t been too bad until now but this week the temperature has risen and you can really feel the difference to home,” said prop Jenkins.
“Andrew Hore (conditioning coach) is always onto us about how important it is to keep taking on liquid to make sure we don’t get dehydrated and we have ice-towels to throw over our heads when we have a break.
“The temperature is just going to get hotter and hotter from now on, especially when we go to Sydney for the game against New Zealand and then, hopefully, Brisbane for the quarter-final,”
The players, especially front-row forwards such as Jenkins, will certainly appreciate the towels that have been sprayed with water and refrigerated if they do head to Queensland where temperatures are already up to 27 degrees.
First they must negotiate Italy in cooler Canberra, it was 19 degrees yesterday, on Saturday if they are to reach the quarter-final.
“We all watched their game against Canada but we weren’t that surprised by anything we saw,” said Jenkins.
“We had already been studying their game and there wasn’t anything new. We will obviously look for weaknesses but we know they have got a couple of big ball carriers and we will have to front up to them in the forwards.¨
