WING WIZARD: Shane Williams leaves the South African defence in his wake during the recent two Test series. New Welsh fitness coach Craig White believes Wales could have won a third Test

WELSH rugby's new fitness expert Craig White has marked his first months in the international set-up - which included a two-match losing tour of South Africa in June - by suggesting Wales could have won a third Test against the world champions if one had been played.

And White was speaking in the full knowledge that he has only three months to wait to see if his prophecy can come true.

The Springboks are Wales' next opponents when they pitch up at the Millennium Stadium to kick-start the Invesco Perpetual Series on Saturday, 8 November (kick-off 2.30pm) with tickets on sale to the general public from midday today.

White was addressing fans via the wru.co.uk podcast for the first time since joining Warren Gatland's rugby revolution in the summer and he says he expects Wales to be ready for the best the Southern Hemisphere has to offer this autumn.

"We showed what we could do in the second Test in South Africa and maybe we could have beaten them in a third because our guys would have been on a level par by then in terms of match fitness," said the former Leicester Tigers, London Wasps and British Lions conditioning guru.

"If we keep our players fit and injury free we'd be disappointed if we didn't beat the South Africans at the Millennium Stadium in November."

White's credentials are well known to head coach Gatland and fellow charges Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley after he spent a successful time with the trio with European club kings London Wasps and he is more than pleased to be back among his old colleagues.

"We made our mark at Wasps and were able to put structures in place and work to our own philosophy," said White.

"Myself, Warren, Shaun and Rob all know what success looks like and hopefully we can bring that with us at international level and take it out to the regions as well.

"Part of the reason I took the job is that I knew I would be working in that kind of environment again.

"There's no substitute for being around people you trust, that allows for healthy conflict and healthy decision making. The result is a black and white environment with everyone working towards the same aim and no hiding place.

"We know exactly what the culture needs to be off the field to ensure success on it and we will do all in our power to recreate that here."

Gatland has said openly that he thinks Wales are two years away from achieving their full potential as a team and White doesn't disagree, despite his strong views about the European Champions' chances against the SANZAR nations and Canada in the Autumn.

"The starting point is we'd like to think we can compete in November, but we want to be level pegging with the Southern Hemisphere sides year on year," he said.

"We know we don't have the same players from a genetic point of view and we don't have the sheer scale of numbers. So the answer is to meticulously prepare off the field' and use every method available to make our top players reach their full potential, not only from a conditioning perspective, but from a total performance enhancement perspective.

"We need to invest in every ounce of scientific information which can make us better, every facet of scientific support must be utilized.

"It all comes into play to make us a better team."

And White is already investing every second of his own available time in Wales' current and future international players by embarking on an outreach programme throughout the regions.

"My time at the moment is taken up with getting out to the regions and, put simply, lending an extra pair of hands," he continued.

"I've been dividing my time between the Blues and the Dragons and Mark Bennett (fellow national team fitness coach) has been to the Ospreys and the Scarlets in alternate weeks.

"We aren't going out and telling the regions what to do, but just turning up and seeing how we can help and offering advice.

"One of the major things for me as a fitness coach has been to educate my coaches about the need for extra trainers throughout my career."

10:29am Thursday 17th July 2008

Print   Email this   Comment