Shane Williams: You think Eddie’s tough? We had Gatland’s world of pain

England‘s players had better get used to these tough new training sessions because they are only going to get harder for those who make the British Lions cut. All this fuss about Eddie Jones‘ sessions with the England squad is water off a duck’s back for the Welsh lads, they’ve been getting beasted by Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards for the past eight years. And from what I’ve heard, there is no sign of any let up.
When Warren walked into his first training session with Wales about a month before the 2008 Six Nations, he introduced a whole new world of hurt.
It was a real shock to the system for all of us. The sessions were far shorter than anything we had experienced before but also far, far more intense and physical. Warren wanted them short and sharp, rather than being out on the training pitch for the sake of it. It was very similar to what England are doing now.
The result was that some of the sessions were tougher than many of the games I played but it got us ready for winning the Grand Slam in Warren’s first year.
You have to be physically ready for that challenge of international rugby, especially if you’re facing the likes of the All Blacks or Springboks.
Warren and Shaun weren’t afraid to mix things up. We had wrestling sessions, cross-fit and tug o’ war, but the toughest were the old-fashioned live defence drills. They were such high-impact sessions that players called them BOB sessions – Bone On Bone – because that’s exactly what they were.
It was like a war zone out there with guys flying around bashing lumps out of each other. Guys like Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Lydiate just loved it while I was looking across at the physio for an excuse to leave!
Then there were the breakdown drills. You basically went flat-out for a minute, which may not sound like a lot, but in that 60 seconds you would hit eight or nine rucks one after the other. You had a break and then went again.
I hated these sessions. The breakdown is not my favourite part of the game at the best of times and I did my best to avoid them as much as I could in matches, but there was just no hiding in training.
These were live defence sessions so guys were scrapping to turn the ball over and when you’re trying to bash lumps like Adam Jones or Jamie Roberts off the ball, it just saps you.
You came off absolutely knackered, battered, bruised and bloodied. It wasn’t unusual for fights to break out as everyone went at it hammer and tongs.
We would usually get the really physical stuff done early in the week, say a Tuesday, because it would take until Thursday to recover. But that intensity is exactly what Warren and Shaun brought to Wales. You had to man up and it really helped me during my career as well as the whole team.
That inevitably took its toll and there were plenty of injuries. I don’t know how many stitches Lydiate had in his face while I remember Adam getting one nasty gash on the top of his head.
There were times when I would wince at the sight of the guys flying into each other because you knew injuries would happen, the harder everyone pushed. A shoulder here or an ankle there, I just kept thinking, ‘Man, we needed so-and-so for Saturday so calm down!’ But that was the price you paid for being ready for the type of rugby we were going to play.
So I can see why Eddie Jones is bringing in things like judo and wrestling, it’s the way the game is going now, especially at the breakdown and one-on-one situations.
After the heavy stuff, we would then move onto the rugby skills sessions because that’s when you were really tested. You were blowing and aching from those earlier drills, but now was about match-specific tactics and skills that were being put to the test when you were knackered.
In a way it replicated the exact feeling you get after about an hour of a real match. It was tough but that’s exactly what international-level rugby is all about, maintaining skills levels and making correct decisions when your body is fatigued. That’s usually what wins Test matches.
Warren did the same ahead of the British Lions tours as well. A lot of conditioning work was done in camp in the UK before flying out but even during the week on tour, there would be a few tasty sessions early in the week. At the end of the day, there’s no excuse for a team being more physical than you at Test level, especially when the Lions face the All Blacks.