By David Williams
Gareth Davies is enjoying the grind of Warren Gatland’s Rugby World Cup training camp as the Wales scrum-half turned heads with photos posted on social media.
The 32-year-old has been working to get into peak physical shape since the end of the season with Scarlets.
Gatland’s approach to World Cup warm-ups have become famous in recent times for how hard he likes to push his players to prepare them for the challenge ahead.
Wales face Fiji on September 10 in their first game of Pool C, with Davies and his team-mates aiming to be at their best for the clash in Bordeaux.
❌ Autumn Internationals 2022
❌ Six Nations 2023
❓ World Cup 2023Gareth Davies is aiming to get to his third World Cup with Wales… 🏴
Would he be in your squad? 🤔#BBCRugby
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) June 29, 2023
The official Welsh Rugby Union Instagram accounts have been posting images from training sessions, with Davies’ physique catching the eye.
“I’m not on Twitter or anything like that, so I’ve not seen too many comments,” he said.
“But the boys have given me a bit of stick. They think there’s a few filters on the pictures. Maybe the cameraman has put some filter on it!
“I’m feeling pretty good. We’re only four or five weeks in, but from day one, I’m feeling fitter than where I was. I’m working really hard and hopefully I can keep improving.”
💪 “I’ll put my head down and work as hard as I can.”
🏴 “I’ve loved the last two World Cups I’ve been involved in.”
Gareth Davies is ready to put in the work to get to his third World Cup… do you want to see him there? 🤔#BBCRugby pic.twitter.com/3kKqgnF216
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) June 29, 2023
In a change to routine training sessions, the squad spent a day at ‘The Green Mile’ – a health and wellness centre where the players were also subjected to other, psychological challenges – something Gatland has since defended.
“It was a good day,” Davies said of the different approach as he explained the activities undertaken.
“We really enjoyed getting off site. We didn’t really know what we were in for to be honest before we got there. It was a tough couple of hours physically – running up a steep hill with a log and jumping in a pool trying to do a lap under the pool without breathing.
“There was a lot of breathing work – trying to recover quicker and stuff like that. We did that for a couple of hours with some power endurance and some wrestling and some circuits and stuff like that.
“That was the first block and then we had a mental challenge where they put us in some stressful positions. We weren’t allowed to talk for an hour. They put a bag over our head so we couldn’t see where we were and they moved us around the camp.
“There were some weird stressful noises in the background. It was good, quite challenging. We knew it was going to be around the hour mark but it felt like we were there for three or four hours.
“We felt really good after it. We bonded well as a team and got some good positives from it.”
🧠 “We went with the army… It was a more psychological challenge.”
😳 “We had them put on hoods, water thrown on them when they weren’t expecting, babies crying, things going off!”
Warren Gatland insists that his Wales training sessions aren’t physically brutal!#BBCRugby pic.twitter.com/kruvqfVGBS
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) June 27, 2023
