‘We all have a responsibility to this shirt’

Feb 17 2008 by Simon Roberts, Wales On Sunday

WARREN GATLAND has grand and brutal plans for the Wales dressing room – plans which will turn the sanctuary into a blend of heaven and hell.

The Welsh players have already seen their new coach’s ruthless streak, making changes after both their opening Six Nations victories.

Now he wants to inspire them and remind them of their responsibilities to one of the game’s iconic shirts.

And he wants skipper Ryan Jones and his men to be very aware of the history and tradition of the red jersey they wear.

“I want a Welsh jersey put in a frame in the dressing room with a slogan: ‘We have a responsibility to this jersey’,” said Gatland.

“I want a reminder about the history attached to the Welsh jersey.

“A lot of great players have worn it and we have responsibility to it and them.”

Gatland, a believer in motivational tools, has plans to inspire his charges to bigger and better things.

“I will do more stuff like this; but it’s early days now and we are in the middle of the Six Nations,” said Gatland.

“We will add to this as we go along, once we have found our values as a team and worked out what is important to us all.”

Gatland and defence coach Shaun Edwards have blown through the national side like a hurricane.

The ‘intensity twins’ have quickly created a no-excuses culture within the Wales set-up, ripping up any perceived comfort zone.

Training sessions have been described as ‘short and sharp’ and with the intensity of an actual game.

His ruthless streak has seen him drop players and publicly criticise them for their mistakes and weaknesses.

But Gatland has a warning for his players – it will get worse, before it gets better.

“I have spoken to the guys about what I want,” said Gatland.

“I have told them I want to get to the stage where there is nothing left in the tank.”

While most players will understand and recognise his sentiments, they probably don’t know exactly what he means.

Gatland really does want ‘everything’ from his players and wants the dressing room to resemble a casualty ward.

The former All Black hooker, who played 17 times in tour games for his country but never in a full Test match, reveals what he wants from his players.

“I have been in All Black dressing rooms in the past where the doctor has gone around giving injections to players because their hamstrings were tightening with cramp and they couldn’t walk,” said Gatland.

“Players couldn’t move because they were in so much pain. The doctor had to relieve the pain because it was so bad.

“I have been in an All Black changing room where they have had to bring oxygen tanks in because players are so exhausted and cannot move after a game.

“If we ever get to that stage, that would be cool. That is where we have to get too. It doesn’t happen overnight but we have to go through some pain.”

Gatland is clearly ready to stick to his infamous threat about ‘breaking’ Welsh players.

While the former Wasps, Ireland and Waikato coach expects his players to give everything for the shirt, he hasn’t flogged them to an inch of their lives in training.

In fact, Gatland has revealed his own short and sharp treatment. “You have to get the guys to understand their responsibilities,” said Gatland.

“Last week, on the Tuesday, before the Scotland game, we only trained for 49 minutes and on Thursday we trained for 37 minutes.

“That includes the warm-up; but the intensity was there. The players were really blowing and found it hard work.

“You could see the penny drop for certain players and I could tell they were going, ‘I see what he wants from me now’. That hasn’t happened with everyone but it will.”

Gatland’s ominous last sentence just underlines the new Wales regime. He is determined to build a new breed of Welsh rugby player – one mentally and physically tough.

It is world away from the previous coaching regime under Gareth Jenkins.

“The analysts are telling me we are getting more done in that time than was being in two hours before,” said Gatland.

“The players understand we are pushing them really hard and they have responded to that.

“We are trying to replicate game intensity in training. Then you have the experience of the intensity of a game and the jump isn’t so big because we are working at this intensity in training.

“You want it to become second nature.”

Gatland denies he is a strict disciplinarian or dictator, but he does have standards.

But there are no ‘Gatland rules’ he expects his players to adopt.

“I am not a big one for rules,” said Gatland. “I am not hung up about the little things. The big things are important to me, like what happens in training and on the field.”

And, it’s working.