The imminent arrival of mid-summer Super Rugby has seen the Waratahs go old-school in their shortened pre-season, with players being run off their feet. Some literally.
It’s not quite around-the-block-in-sandshoes of the 1980s but with Super Rugby now kicking off on January 31 - 24 days earlier than the 2018 season - the Waratahs’ coaches have had to squeeze a six-week pre-season into a month, and so cranked up the running workload by over twenty percent compared to last year.
Done in the middle of baking summer heat and even bushfire smoke, the torturous sessions have seen exhausted players put in some "dark holes", according to Waratahs backs coach Chris Whitaker.
But not only does the conditioning work have to done in a shorter space of time, skills work has also been added on top, and far earlier so players are ready for their first trial against the Highlanders on January 17.
"Compared to last year, the running loads and the dark holes the boys have been put in … we have had guys can’t finish sessions. It’s been really good,” Whitaker said.
"Pre-season is a lot shorter this year so we have had to add in the rugby side of things a lot earlier.
"The boys have handled it really well. Their running loads have gone up by about 20 per cent on last year so they have handled it really well. They deserved a good break over Christmas."
It’s no doubt a standard brand of torture being rolled out at most Australian Super Rugby clubs, and beyond, but the dark holes have been particularly enlightening for NSW coaches as they attempt to pin down - in that short space of time - what the Waratahs will look like in 2020.
With the loss of over 700 games of Super Rugby experience from last year, the Waratahs require a new batch of leaders to emerge and Whitaker said under the intense strain of a painful pre-season, those instinctive qualities had been seen in a handful of the new Tahs.
"The way they have handled it and the change in the boys’ attitude, and the leaders that have emerged, the attitude from the first week to now, it has been first class,” Whitaker said.
"There are guys who haven’t played Super Rugby and they’re putting their hand up to be leaders, and really helping each other out. In that sense, it has been good to really help each other mature and come to the forefront.
"The guys who have been here before like the Jake Gordons and Ned Hanigans, who probably weren’t the top tier leaders, but now they’re really stepping up to that mantle.
"And then you have other guys underneath there like the Will Harrisons, the guys who played 20s last year, the Michael McDonalds, those kinds of guys who have taken a step up.”
#SuperRugby | Some big conditioning sessions put the boys to the test, plus a different type of workout in the ocean baths at Maroubra - all in Episode 2 of the Waratah Way!
— NSW Waratahs (@NSWWaratahs) December 9, 2019
📺 https://t.co/sxuiUUkZOw#ForTheLoveOfRugby 💙🏉 pic.twitter.com/4VlleGxlT8
Whitaker said the silver lining of losing a large number of leaders - including Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Israel Folau and Sekope Kepu - was the space created for youngsters to find their voice.
"It’s a great opportunity for those young guys stepping up, and I suppose in the past those young guys might have been a bit inhibited by the older guys being here,” Whitaker said."And it wasn't neccesary for them to be leaders and to talk. But now they’re thrown in the spotlight and take up the opportunities. It’ll be interesting to see when the Wallabies come back.”
After their post-World Cup breaks, Wallabies players have started to return to training and Kurtley Beale had his first day back on Tuesday.
To accomodate the scrapping of the June international window in 2020, round one of Super Rugby has been brought forward to January 31, the earliest ever start.
Whitaker believes a January start could have an impact on how the Super Rugby ladder looks after the first month, with clubs at varying states of readiness, potentially based on how many stars they have to re-integrate.
"Coming off the World Cup as well, looking at the guys coming back .. obviously the Wallabies come back in late,” Whitaker said.
"I dare say the New Zealanders do the same thing so I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of guys are rested here and there.
"It’s a good opportunity for some teams to get off to a flyer and get some wins up. It can be pretty tough to come back from a bad start.
"The start is going to be crucial and hopefully we are going in a good stead to hit our straps early on in the competition."
