Wales ready for 'frosty welcome'

Leigh Halfpenny was greeted by snow, spartan living conditions and a cryotherapy chamber set to -40°C when he arrived at the Wales national squad training camp in Gdansk, Poland, this week, but he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Halfpenny could have been forgiven for thinking he was due a pat on the back and the opportunity to put his feet up for a couple of days, after his performance and accurate kicking helped secure Heineken Cup quarterfinal qualification for his region, the Blues, last Sunday.

But a 4.30am start less than 12 hours later and a plane ride to Warsaw, where the outside temperature is floating in and around the sub zero mark, has helped him immediately focus on the international challenges ahead in the 2012 Six Nations and put pursuit of Heineken Cup glory to one side for the time being.

It all starts a week on Sunday when Wales travel to Ireland for their first appearance at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and Halfpenny says Poland will be ideal preparation for the frosty welcome they can expect on the pitch against the Irish.

“I’m looking forward to the experience of going to the new stadium, but Dublin has always been a hostile place to travel to,” said Halfpenny.

“They may have rebuilt it but the swirling winds and certainly the winter temperatures of the old Lansdowne Road will still be apparent and Poland can play its part in preparing us.

“I wouldn’t go a week without kicking so we will be doing some sessions out here, whatever the temperatures, and it won’t be difficult to put yourself mentally onto that pitch against Ireland so it may help.

“The conditions here generally are pretty sparse, there’s nothing to do except eat, sleep and train, but I don’t think any of us would have it any other way.

“We want to be the best prepared we can possibly be for this tournament and make best use of the time we have available to us and this is the way to do it.”

The 24-year-old wing or fullback has packed a lot into his career already and is no stranger to travelling with his rugby, but he says Gdansk – alongside Spala last year – has to rank as one of the most spartan training camps he has ever experienced.

“We are all lucky to be doing the job that we are doing and there are rugby trips where you are made to feel a million dollars and you have your every need looked after,” said Halfpenny.

“On the British & Irish Lions tour three years ago we had our training camp at Penyhill Park.  Every player had a double bed which you sank into and which formed around you as soon as you lay down on it.

“The pitches were like bowling greens and the sun was out to greet you as you woke every morning, it’s fair to say this training camp is at the other end of that scale.

“It was snowing when my plane landed in Poland today and when we got to Gdansk we were straight into the cryotherapy chambers to help with our recovery and off to the canteen for some ‘eggy’ chicken and some protein shakes after that.

“It’s all pretty basic, but that serves its own  purpose here and we are all relishing the challenge.”

Halfpenny is sharing with his Blues colleague, the one-times capped wing Alex Cuthbert and he says his region’s success so far in Europe has already had a positive effect on the atmosphere in the Wales camp.

“All of the Blues players are obviously bouncing and it’s always great to meet up with the Wales players again, but we are under no illusion we are here for the hard work,” added Halfpenny.

“I’m sharing with Alex, we have a couple of single beds in the room and a bedside table.  We don’t spend much time in there, but then we don’t have much time for anything apart from rugby, sleeping and eating.

“I’m expecting our first training session tomorrow to be like a like a scene from Rocky IV, but Alex was taking it all in his stride and there is certainly a sense of achievement to look forward to when  you come to the end of one of these camps.

“When all is said and done we all want to be the very best that we can be at what we can do. It is only by testing yourself to the absolute limit that you begin to realise what it is possible to achieve and that is what these training camps are all about.”