International rugby moves in four-year cycles and the foundations for Japan 2019 were laid as the previous tournament came to an end.
Developing depth, competition and combinations were all high on the agenda as Warren Gatland readied his squad.
The plan and the focus haven’t changed. Everything Wales have done on and off the field in the time between World Cups has been about preparing the players to peak in Japan.
The training camps and warm-up matches this summer are all part of that journey, part of ensuring the team arrive in Japan ready for the main event.
That main event for Wales kicks off in a little over five weeks-time when they face Georgia in their opening Pool D encounter in Toyota (Monday September 23).
Wales’ preparation this summer began back in June, whereafter each player had their post-season four-week break, they reported for duty at the National Centre of Excellence and got stuck into their training regime.
After a block of training in Cardiff the squad returned to the Swiss Alps where they were also based in 2015 for an intensive fortnight of rugby and conditioning training, returning to the UK for the first two of four warm-up games.
“These warm-up games are obviously a really important part of our preparation,” said Gatland.
“Everything is geared for us to arrive in Japan in the best possible shape and rugby-ready and these matches provide us with that platform.
“It is not about peaking now, it is about peaking for those seven weeks in Japan and that’s what we are focused on doing.”
Following this afternoon’s clash against England the squad will depart for their second training camp and the heat of Turkey tomorrow.
“Our second camp is our warm weather camp, we will be based over in Turkey, putting the players through heat stress, preparing them for the conditions in Japan and we will be training about four times a day,” he added.
“After the Turkey camp we return to Cardiff for the game against Ireland at home (Saturday August 31).
“That is going to be really important match for players involved as it will be their last chance, their last opportunity before we name the RWC squad.
“We will announce the squad the following day (Sunday September 1) so it is a huge match for the players. It will be an important game for the supporters too as it’s a chance for them to come out, support the team and see them for the last time before we head off to the Rugby World Cup.”
“Following the Ireland home match and squad announcement, we have one more fixture to fine tune things and that is against Ireland in Dublin on September 7 before we head to Japan four days later.”
