Wales rugby legend Huw Bennett puts Warren Gatland’s side through their paces in the Swiss Alps

In 2019, Huw Bennett caused both shock and laughter among Wales players when he arrived for training by paragliding from a mountain in the Swiss Alps.

Four years later, Bennett is once again keeping Warren Gatland’s team on their toes through a combination of relentless fitness exercises and unusual motivational techniques.

For their third consecutive World Cup pre-season, Wales have traveled to the Swiss village of Fiesch for an altitude training camp designed to get Gatland’s party in tip-top shape.

In Fiesch, the Wales players sleep at altitude at the top of the mountain range, where altitudes rise to almost 3,000 meters above sea level.

Wales’ mantra is ‘live high, train low’ – the ultimate goal is to strengthen the team’s cardiovascular fitness for the World Cup which starts in France in September.

The side have been put to the test by former player Huw Bennett, who believes Wales can reap the benefits of training at height

The team is currently exceeding the expectations of the coaches in Switzerland

They travel between their hotel and the training ground via a gondola, although one time that was far too simple for Wales’ head of physical performance Bennett.

“It was nine days in camp and I felt like the players needed a pick-me-up,” he said, reflecting on the run-up to 2019.

‘Me and Bobby (Strridgeon) did it (paragliding). The gondola system is different now. They come every 30 seconds. At the time it was every half hour so there was a lot of emphasis on the fact that if you missed the gondola you would be forfeited.

“We ran to the gondola and just missed it. The boys were warming up downstairs and we came paragliding while Mission Impossible was playing.

“I don’t want to repeat what we did then, but maybe we’ll have something up our sleeve this time.”

Bennett is the man who must ensure that Gatland’s players are in the right condition – both mentally and physically – to challenge the best of the game at the World Cup.

He is pleased with Wales’ development so far, with head coach Gatland able to bring more rugby elements into his team’s sessions earlier than initially planned.

The Gatland players are pushed to their limits in Fiesch – a location where they go about their business without the locals knowing.

In addition to the altitude, Wales is also dealing with rising temperatures of almost 30 degrees.

“I bond with the boys because they know I like to go to dark places sometimes,” Bennett said with a wicked smile.

“We get the benefits of the live high, train low method and also the unique experience of being here. The coaches feel it works and the best part is the players feel the same way.

‘You have to plan everything well so that you don’t destroy people. You don’t want to just take them to dark places.

“We have a number of core tests that we use. When they get here, the guys surpass the numbers they set last time at the end of Switzerland.

“When I talk to the players, they feel in a much better place, even in our first four days in Switzerland, than when we left Switzerland last time.”

After previous trips to Fiesch in 2015 and 2019, Wales reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the World Cups in those years respectively.

It is clear that the approach works. Now Gatland is hoping for a repeat after a tumultuous season in Welsh rugby that was dominated by chaos on and off the pitch.

In Switzerland, Wales players are asked to rate out of 10 how difficult they find Bennett’s fitness sessions.

The team previously went to the Alps to train for previous World Cups

They then reached the quarterfinals and semifinals in 2015 and 2019

Dan Lydiate (left) was pictured in training and will hope his squad can get deep into the tournament

Wales will play in the group stage of the competition against Uruguay, Fiji, Australia and Georgia

There haven’t been many low scores. To be in Fiesch this weekend was to see the Gatland players hard at work. No stone is left unturned when it comes to preparation. ‘

“If they put eights on that, they’re just not working hard enough. There must have been a few bucks on Saturday,” Bennett said.

“When we come to Switzerland, it’s not for the players to feel that the sessions are easier. It’s so we can push them harder. The guys will say they’ve had some tough ones already, but I can assure them there are some tough ones to come. They have a really good attitude.

‘We sometimes give them insight into what the session is. But sometimes we let the rumors go because it’s kind of funny what comes back.’