IRB Rugby World Cup
Is the Rugby World Cup merely survival of the fittest?
Tom Hamilton
June 25, 2015
England
England© (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Not since Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa's lengthy montage ahead of his fight with Ivan Drago has such a palaver been made over fitness. While the various teams preparing for the Rugby World Cup have stopped short of running up the 72 steps outside Philadelphia's Museum of Art - though some teams will be in that neck of the woods later in the summer so rule nothing out - the various press releases, conferences and social media accounts from a number of the teams have all focused on their conditioning.

An article in this month's Rugby World asks whether a World Cup can be won without kicking or passing a ball, instead questioning if the volume of mind-games and pre-tournament verbal volleys actually sees one team gain an advantage over another. Wales' Warren Gatland is the master of the odd thinly-veiled dig or pointed question but it is Scotland's Vern Cotter who has already lobbed the first 'Gatland grenade' of the phoney war.

He questioned Japan's motives for their opening match against the USA and said he predicts the 'Brave Blossoms' will actually be a bit more timid in favour of saving their energy for their second game against Cotter's Scotland. Posturing aside, Cotter's focus with Scotland, like the other teams who are proactive in pushing their own PR, is on their fitness. Their social media channels show the players being put through their paces by the French marines in the Pyrenees.

England have also pushed their fitness claims and while their social media approach to showcasing the visual aspects of their preparation is more shielded it is Stuart Lancaster who has outlined their goal of being the fittest ever team. Their pre-World Cup routine will take in a fortnight in Denver at altitude.

"In order to win the World Cup, you have to be the fittest team," said Lancaster. "And the type of game we want to play, it is probably the most important thing that we need to get right. It is going to be pretty grim for the players in Denver. It is tough there. We are then going to Vail, which is even higher. Training at altitude improves aerobic capacity and it is a more effective way of stripping body fat. So they should come back leaner and fitter. That altitude effect won't last until Sept 18 [when England open the tournament against Fiji] but what it will do is enhance the players."

The message from Graham Rowntree if a player is not in the best condition of his career? "If they are not, then they will be going home."

The Springboks meet next week but after the 2003 furore over Kamp Staaldraad where the players were closer to death than optimum fitness, they may take a more conservative approach to broadcasting their fitness regime. Their neighbours Namibia however are also on the fitness bandwagon.

New Zealand have also showcased their bid for ultimate fitness across their social media channels but the Kiwis' offering shows the players as inanimate objects in a picture rather than opting for a vine of Richie McCaw bench-pressing the souls of all the flankers he has dominated in his remarkable career.

And then there is Wales. The focus during the autumn internationals was on improving their condition in an almost pre-season manner and the party line has remained the same in the run up to the World Cup. A press release from the Welsh Rugby Union on Wednesday outlined in detail their preparations.

"The squad will head to Switzerland for 15 days on July 1 for their first training camp in Fiesch. The squad will base themselves at 2250m for an intensive block of training, working to a stimulus of living at high altitude whilst training at low altitude.

"Further punishing training will be undertaken later that month in the heat of Qatar with the squad spending nine days in Doha. Under the guidance of the Aspetar Sports Hospital and training at the world-renowned Aspire Sports Centre, the squad will be pushed in extreme heat that can exceed 40 degrees. The heat training will be combined with altitude methods once again with the players sleeping in hypoxic chambers that can replicate up to 4500m above sea level."

Prior to the last World Cup they set out their stall pushing cryotherapy - a factor heralded for their eventual fourth-place finish. It is now something which has been taken on by the other teams.

Gatland's move to also bring in Paul Stridgeon as their new head of fitness is a masterstroke. Having spent six years with England, he knows the players and systems better than most and to borrow one of the themes of Clive Woodward's reign, the appointment of the ex-Olympic wrestler will be seen as a 'one percenter' in Wales' favour.

But the teams will know the volume of fitness-focused dialogue means little unless it produces results. You can't imagine Jamie Roberts will be sitting their nervous prior to their meeting with England on September 26 because he saw a Vine of Jonathan Joseph doing 54 burpees. Fitness is a given in the ever-modernising game, if a player falls short they are dropped. There is no doubt over the importance of conditioning - the 2003 team was built around that - but until the first ball of the World Cup is kicked in anger, all the talk is little more than shadow boxing.

© Tom Hamilton
Tom Hamilton is the Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.

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