After five days of intensive conditioning testing the squad is set to be trimmed to 44 by coach Steve Hansen in preparation to face England, Ireland, Scotland and Romania in next month’s friendlies.
The players have been allowed a three-week summer break after returning from Australia and New Zealand, but ven’t even taken that.
‘Monday is the beginning of an intense training and testing period for all of the players,’ said Hore.
‘We begin with two days of testing with aerobic, anaerobic, speed, explosive and strength tests to assess the stage the players are at and identify the specific needs of each man.
‘But I know a lot of them have continued training during their holidays in any case and more than a few of them have been visiting the gym at the WRU training center of their own accord.’
And the ex-Canterbury fitness coach, who is coming to the end if his first year at the helm with Wales, says he is more excited about the new structure and the attitude of players than he has ever been.
‘In all honesty I’ve never worked with a squad like it,’ he said. ‘They have been nothing short of superb in terms of the commitment and work ethic they put into their training.
‘These guys have made great gains. The squad as a whole has bulked up physically, got faster over sprints and reached the required level of stamina to compete at the highest level. There is always more work to do, but in the year I have been here they have far exceeded expectations.
‘They have the base fitness necessary to develop more power, strength and speed, but every player has different needs and will need to work on different things.’
And the sports conditioning guru believes player fitness will reap the rewards of the new regional structure in Wales to the extent that the system will better the very ones it tries to emulate in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and England.
‘One strength we have in Wales is the proximity of the player base and coaches to each other. If I need to go and talk to Wayne Proctor in Llanelli I can be there in an hour, in New Zealand you’d have to hop on a plane’ he added.
‘The other great thing about the new structure is that when players leave the Wales camp the professional trainers that look after them within the regions are all agreed on the training, nutrition and testing regimes we have in place.
‘And less games at a higher intensity means more recovery time and more training time which is paramount and is something that has been lacking in the past.’
