Warren Gatland has no doubt that Wales are fully conditioned for Bordeaux’s blistering heat as they aim to turn up the temeprature on Rugby World Cup opponents Fiji.
It is due to hit 36 degrees Celsius on Saturday, while not dropping much below 30 a day later despite a kick-off of 9pm local time.
Wales, though, look set to reap the benefits of punishing conditions at training camps in Switzerland and Turkey that formed a central part of their tournament warm-up.
“I think in international rugby you have to go to dark places and you have to be hurting,” Wales head coach Gatland said.
“It’s whether other teams are hurting that little bit more than you.
“Everyone is talking about the heat being an advantage to Fiji, but we’ve had some pretty gruelling sessions in heat so we are conditioned to that.
“We’ve been comfortable with the pace of the game and the intensity of the game. Probably from the warm-up games, where the ball-in-play time against England in the first game was 39 minutes, we looked good.
“In the second game against England, it was 30 minutes and it probably didn’t allow us to use some of the hard work we’ve put in. It has definitely been a focus for us.”
Wales meet Fiji for the fifth successive World Cup in a pool game, and while they have won three in a row after being dumped out of the 2007 tournament, they are expecting a fierce challenge.
Fiji’s quality – and a far stronger set-piece than previously – was highlighted in their historic victory over England at Twickenham last month.
Gatland added: “You’ve just got to defend well for a start. We know they are dangerous.
“At some stage, they will make a break or get an offload away. It’s then how we react to that quickly.
“For us, we’ve spoken about discipline and keeping them out of our 22. They tend to come alive in opposition 22s. We are in a good place for the challenge, physically and mentally.”
It will be Gatland’s fourth World Cup at the Wales helm after masterminding semi-final appearances in 2011 and 2019, while they also reached the quarter-finals in 2013.
There are similarities with that 2011 campaign in New Zealand, when Wales were captained by a 22-year-old Sam Warburton, while this time around 23-year-old Jac Morgan leads them into tournament battle.
As 12 years ago, there is also a sprinkling of exciting young players, with Morgan and his co-captain Dewi Lake leading a crop that includes the likes of Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer and Mason Grady.
“We’ve had some new faces come in, which has been great for the group. A lot of young players have got some experience,” Gatland said.
“We’ve had some issues in Welsh rugby. Hopefully those are behind us now and we can completely focus on this World Cup.
“I get nervous myself. I think nerves are always a positive. When you are nervous about the game or what potentially might happen, it focuses the mind in terms of what is coming.
“There is nothing wrong with that. I see it as a real positive in terms of the players being right on the edge in terms of their preparation before the game.
“Dan Biggar made a good point this morning, saying we were 10-0 down four years ago after Fiji scored early on, but we kept calm, stuck to our processes and got back into it.
“We know Fiji can start well and we need to start well, but it is making sure we are really clear about what we want to achieve and sticking to the processes in place.”
Suaalii boost for Australia ahead of Ireland clash
Joseph Suaalii has shrugged off a knock to be available for Australia's Test against Ireland on Saturday, coach Joe Schmidt confirmed.
Australia are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 27-13 defeat to Scotland in the concluding autumn Test at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Suaalii was withdrawn in the early stages of the contest against Scotland in Edinburgh amid fears that he had suffered a broken wrist.
"Joe's fine, he got one of those stingers where he had a bit of a dead arm," Schmidt said, providing an update on the 21-year-old Australia centre.
"We felt it was better to get it properly assessed, and we couldn't hold the game up to do that, so we took him out of the game against Scotland."
Against England earlier this month, rugby league convert Suaalii became only the third player after Matt Giteau and Tatafu Polota-Nau to debut for the Wallabies before playing in Super Rugby.
Schmidt, who coached Ireland from 2013 to 2019, has made five changes to his side from the defeat to the Scots.
James Slipper and Taniela Tupou have been recalled to the squad, while Jeremy Williams comes back from illness alongside Nick Frost.
Fraser McReight is also drafted into the back row while fly-half Tane Edmed is set for a first cap after finding a place among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Ireland have retained Sam Prendergast at fly-half for the autumn finale ahead of Jack Crowley.
Head coach Andy Farrell has also made five changes to an Ireland side that go into the Test on the back of a 52-17 win against Fiji.
Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan all return to Farrell's side as they look to finish on a high.
Marler announces retirement from professional rugby
Joe Marler has announced his retirement from professional rugby, revealing he will "finally jump off the rollercoaster" following Harlequins' clash with Bristol Bears on Friday.
The former England prop will bring the curtain down on his decorated career at the age of 34.
Marler has spent his entire club career with Harlequins, winning two Premiership titles, the European Challenge Cup and making over 200 appearances.
He also earned 95 caps for England, who he represented at three World Cups - helping them reach the 2019 final and 2023 semi-finals - while also winning three Six Nations Championships.
"The time has come to finally jump off the rollercoaster and walk away from this beautifully brutal game," he said in a statement. "On Friday night, I'll play my last-ever match for Quins. After all these happy years, it's over.
"I feel lucky to have pulled on the jersey worn by so many idols of mine, and so many better players.
"That's an incredible thing to me. I got to stand alongside so many great players and people that have made this club so special."
Borthwick taking positives from 'frustrating' Autumn Series
England ensured they ended 2024 on a high note as they claimed a 59-14 victory over Japan, and coach Steve Borthwick is taking the positives from a difficult Autumn Nations Series.
Borthwick's team lost three matches on the spin, going down to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, earlier this month.
However, they at least rallied to wrap up their year with an emphatic victory on Sunday, ending a five-match losing streak.
Captain Jamie George crossed twice in the first half, with Ben Earl, Sam Underhill and Ollie Sleightholme also going over before the interval, while Marcus Smith was on form with the boot.
Japan, coached by former England boss Eddie Jones, did score through a fantastic try from Naoto Saito, but England kept their foot on the pedal after half-time.
George Furbank rounded off a slick move after latching onto Tommy Freeman's exceptional pass, while Luke Cowan-Dickie went over twice, either side of Tom Roebuck's maiden international try, with Kazuki Himeno grabbing another consolation for the visitors.
While Borthwick knows England have plenty to improve on, he feels they are not too short of where they wish to be.
He said: "Reflecting on it, the obvious overriding feeling will be one of frustration to have come so close to getting results but not actually be able to convert them, I think that will be one aspect.
"The other aspect would be real positivity around some of the aspects we've seen the team play.
"I want them to be brave with the ball, I want them to play fast. I think we've seen growth in that area over the last four weeks."
Reflecting on Sunday's display, he added: "I'm really pleased with the way the players approached the game and the way they kept their discipline to play the way we want to play.
"You can see the identity they're trying to build as a team, one that moves the ball and can score in different ways.
"Some of the tries were exceptional. Over the past four weeks, we've scored some really outstanding tries. With the skill level that's in the group, I'm really pleased they took it onto the grass."
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