WRU ADVERTISE FOR ANDREW HORE REPLACEMENT

Welsh Rugby Union | Club & Community Published 9:39 pm 10th Sep 2005 post

Andrew Hore, the WRU‘s fitness coach will return to his native New Zealand in the Autumn to take up a management role within the NZRU – but the Kiwi who has revolutionised Wales‘s approach to fitness and conditioning in his three years in the job has further ensured the continued progress in the field of fitness by mapping out a detailed structure for his successor to slot into.

The post of National Fitness Director is currently being advertised on this website http://www.wru.co.uk (Click Here for Vacancies) but Hore says it was vital that the system and the structure was put right in order that Welsh rugby can continue to make strides.

“We have essentially split my role into two jobs. The role of National Fitness Director will drive the overall development of fitness within Welsh rugby. That means he will oversee everything that affects fitness levels from the moment a child first puts on a pair of rugby boots to the end of his coaching or refereeing career.

“He or she will essentially be looking towards the 2015 World Cup and beyond and will work with all the relevant bodies from the WRU Management Board to the Academies, age grade coaches and the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that Wales has the best possible chance to succeed at the highest possible level.

“The successful candidate will then be part of the process of appointing a National Fitness Coach who will look after the day-to-day conditioning of the National squad.

“It is very important to me that I am comfortable with the state of conditioning and fitness within Welsh rugby when I leave at the end of the year and that the progress that has begun can continue to kick on.

“To that end, it is important that a strong structure is in place – the future conditioning personnel will form part of a well-oiled machine.

“When I first arrived in Wales, I was astounded to find that there was no real link from a fitness point of view between the players coming through the system to those already in the national squad set-up. It is hard for the National Team to get the athletes it needs if it does not play a key role in driving through the process of fitness from the bottom.

“That has all now changed because of a huge collective desire within the WRU to get rid of the traditional peaks and troughs we have seen in the fitness of Welsh players over the years. This has been a long process but one that now coming to fruition thanks to a lot of hard work undertaken together with Mostyn Richards, Alan Phillips, Steve Lewis and Steve Hansen beforehand.”