The former Scarlets coach has named a 37-player squad to travel to Canada this weekend for a training week culminating in a Test match in Halifax on Saturday 27 August 5pm (9pm UK time).
All eyes are firmly fixed on their opening game in Pool A against Scotland on Sunday, 9 October in Whangarei, but before then Cunningham’s goal has been to turn his team into one of the fittest in the world.
A week-long trip to Canada, which will include a competitive training session against the Canadians and a Test match against the home team, will give him a chance to assess how much progress has been made. When the two teams met in Cardiff last November, Wales led 7-0 at the break before going down 24-7 in the end.
He said, “We’ve told the group that we want them to be known as one of the fittest teams around, which means we have to work hard every day. We don’t want anyone to out-work us.
“Going to Canada will give us a chance to look at the gains we have made in that department. We had a good game against Canada in the autumn in which we did really well for about 60 minutes but Canada pulled away in the end. That’s something we’re looking forward to seeing – how we finish games, how we stay in the fight and being away from home with 37 players is going to pull us even closer together as a group.”
Wales also have a pre-world cup international scheduled against England at Ashton Gate, Bristol on 14 September.
“We’ve come off the back of a tough July where we pushed the girls hard physically. Now we are transitioning more towards the rugby side of things,” added Cunningham.
“We want to see the shift in our fitness levels come into play in our rugby sessions. Going to Canada is like experiencing a mini-World Cup – we’ll have to get on a plane, fly to a different country, adapt quickly and get used to new training facilities.
“That’s going to be tough, but it will be great preparation and give the 36 players another chance to bond. We finish with a Test match which will be great for us as ahead of the World Cup.
“It will be a different week to a normal Test match week because we are still in pre-season mode. It will be a tough challenge for the group.
“They will go into the game slightly more fatigued than usual, but that’s fine because the goal is to be in peak condition for the opening game against Scotland in October. They are going to be pushed and tested and we want to see how they respond under that sort of fatigue.
“Speaking to the girls and asking them about how they are feeling they are telling us they feel a lot better, they have a lot more in them and they can run a lot harder. That’s pleasing to hear and we know the players are in better shape physically, their body composition has changed, they are stronger, faster.”
Having played a fairly consistent squad for most of last season, Cunningham is keen to increase the pool of players with Test experience within his squad.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for some players who didn’t have many or any opportunities during the Six Nations and we want to reward some players who have trained really well with us recently. We’re excited to see how they deliver against a top nation.”
“Competition is very high. We have to finalise a 32 to get on the plane and we want players to have a chance to show us what they can do. If they go out and perform, the opportunity is there for them for the world cup and beyond”
Wales squad for Canada :
Keira Bevan (Bristol Bears)
Alisha Butchers (Bristol Bears)
Alex Callender (Worcester Warriors)
Gwen Crabb (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Georgia Evans (Saracens)
Kat Evans (Saracens)
Abbie Fleming (Exeter Chiefs)
Lleucu George (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Cerys Hale (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Sioned Harries (Worcester Warriors)
Eloise Hayward* (Loughborough Lightning)
Cara Hope (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Natalia John (Worcester Warriors)
Manon Johnes (Bristol Bears)
Hannah Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Kelsey Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Jasmine Joyce (Bristol Bears)
Kerin Lake (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Bethan Lewis (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Caitlin Lewis (Exeter Chiefs)
Ffion Lewis (Worcester Warriors)
Siwan Lillicrap (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Lisa Neumann (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Lowri Norkett* (Worcester Warriors)
Carys Phillips (Worcester Warriors)
Liliana Podpadec* (Llandaff North)
Kayleigh Powell (Bristol Bears)
Gwenllian Pyrs (Bristol Bears)
Donna Rose (Saracens)
Jenni Scoble* (Llandaff North)
Elinor Snowsill (Bristol Bears)
Niamh Terry (Worcester Warriors)
Caryl Thomas (Worcester Warriors)
Sisilia Tuipulotu (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Meg Webb (Bristol Bears)
Robyn Wilkins (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Carys Williams-Morris* (Loughborough Lightning)
*uncapped
