Jamie Roberts: We’ve done the prep to ace finals
Wales have unfinished business at the World Cup after their semi-final heartache four years ago
following Sam Warburton’s controversial red card in the semi-final against France.
And they have spent a gruelling summer making sure they do not fall-short again.
First they have to mastermind a way through the World Cup’s Pool of Death against England, Australia and Fiji.
Qualified doctor Roberts has spent plenty of hours swotting up with his nose buried in books.
And he reckons Wales have done their homework for this global-sized test.
“We have had a tough ten weeks to prepare for this. It’s amazing how much hard work and effort goes into just four games,” Roberts told The Rugby Paper.
“But we know that if we get it right four times for 80 minutes we will get through to the quarter-finals.
“I use the analogy of an exam. If you work hard for an exam, you are in a much better place. If you have not done enough, you are sh***ing yourself. We have done the preparation physically and mentally and we feel confident.
“The physical stuff is done now and it is about getting our minds right, getting the game-plan right and ironing out the errors of last weekend against Italy.
“We are taking confidence into the first game against Uruguay and making sure that mentally every minute counts in the four pool games and all 31 lads are switched on all the time.”
Roberts is certainly a big-match player, a performer who knows just how and when to peak at the right times.
He was man of the series for the British Lions in 2009, starred for Wales at the 2011 World Cup and played in the decisive third Lions Test in 2013.
And having secured his future beyond the World Cup – he will play the Varsity Match with Cambridge University before joining Harlequins – Roberts insists he is focused on putting in another star-turn in the limelight.
“You have to peak as a player every two years, for the World Cup and the Lions because they are the ultimate. They are the biggest stages you can play on, moments you really want to grasp. I am in the right frame of mind and physically I feel really good,” he said, having also recovered from bruised ribs in a clash with Ireland full-back Rob Kearney a fortnight ago.
“I feel happy and relaxed because everything in my life is taken care of beyond the World Cup. I can completely focus on the rugby and I am ready to go.
“I feel comfortable having done all the hard work. Yes it was hell at the time, but I feel happy going into a World Cup at my peak physically and relaxed mentally.”
Roberts could be forgiven for feeling like the elder statesman in a young Welsh backline. He is hitting his peak but knows the opportunities such as the World Cup are finite. “I definitely appreciate these occasion more as I get older.
“I don’t want to say I’m coming to end of my career because that is not being fair on myself at 28, but I am in the second-half of my career.
“I would like to think there are six or seven years left in me and I want to stay at that level.
“But it is always a continual struggle at international level, fighting for the jersey.
“If you look at backs in general I am probably a veteran. They come through now at 21 and 22 and George North has won 50 caps at 23 – that’s frightening. But age is just a number.
“I was chatting this week to Leigh Halfpenny, who is out for six months, and saying how he has to put a positive spin on his injury, as bad and brutal as it is. The timing could not have been more cruel.
“But he will have six months out and come back desperately hungry to play rugby again in the second-half of his career.
“Putting a positive spin on it, it will do him the world of good in the long-term to have time out.
“Maybe it can be a blessing in disguise.”
MATT LLOYD
