THE Wallabies took on the new cosy spirit of co-operation between rugby Test nations on Sunday by training against the Welsh in Cardiff and finishing with an arm-in-arm moment of silence to mark Remembrance Day.
The eight Wallabies not part of the Test-match 23 and development players Jack Maddocks and Liam Wright were involved against their Welsh counterparts in a quality session to keep up the match sharpness and fitness of both camps.
Defence coach Nathan Grey gave the session a strong thumbs up after helping to supervise the opposed run at The Vale Resort, the Welsh squad base on the city’s outskirts.
The poignant moment where both groups of players paid their respects to the fallen in war added an extra poignancy. Izaia Perese, Curtis Rona, Tetera Faulkner, Bill Meakes, Blake Enever, Lopeti Timani, Jordan Uelese and Joe Powell were also involved.
“We always train the non-playing members of the squad on match day Saturdays so we just thought it was a great concept to get the guys working together,” Grey said.
“They train hard against each other within their squads but this added a little bit of competitiveness against a world class opposition. The quality was really good.”
The idea sprung from a team liaision officer within the Wallabies camp and followed the unprecedented scrum and lineout session between old foes Wales and England last Monday.
“We compete on the field and try to rip each other’s heads off but off the field and around the training ground we are all mates. The Welsh guys were really welcoming and we all had a laugh at the end,” Grey said.
“We were testing skills under a different style of pressure where you didn’t know how your opponent would react…a real positive.”
It may just be a one-off in a city where two squads were based just 15 minutes apart but Grey said he had an open-mind to repeating the exercise against England or Scotland later in the tour.
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