Walters Looks Forward To Wales Double-Header

The Munster squad were back in training at CIT today after a week’s break ahead of the upcoming RaboDirect PRO12 games away to Cardiff Blues and Newport Gwent Dragons.

One man looking forward to the trips to Wales more than most is Carmarthenshire-born Aled Walters.

Walters is in his second season with Munster and has found his workload has increased in recent weeks after the departure of Bryce Cavanagh, with the Welshman stepping into the breach as acting Head of Fitness moving from his position as Strength and Rehab Coach.

And the former Head of Strength and Conditioning at Taranaki in New Zealand joked that he was glad to get a break from the players last week.

“It was such a relief to get rid of them for a while!

"No, it’s great for them, it’s been a long time coming. The last time they had a break was in pre-season so it’s been a tough time and the games leading up to the break were pretty physical.

“It’s all about preparing the guys now and getting them back up to speed for the double-header. They’ve had a week off which has given them the chance to recharge physically and mentally so hopefully we can get them back up and running without doing them any damage.

“We’ll be playing Perpignan in the Heineken Cup after the two games in Wales so it’s really important that they are fresh and mentally ready going into the matches.”

At the moment there are a number of Munster players with the Irish squad and, as Walters has individual training schedules for each member of the squad, it’s important that there’s a clear line of communication with the Irish coaching staff.

“They’re really good, Jason Cowman is the strength and conditioning coach with Ireland and he sends us lots of information.

“He tells us what they’re doing with the GPS information so we know exactly what’s going on up there and that will allow the players to integrate back into training with us much easier after the autumn internationals.”

The schedule is set to intensify even further over the Christmas period with three important games over 13 days, but Walters revealed that he won’t make too many changes to the players' training schedules.

“We’ll have to tailor it a small bit but it’s only really two weeks, we play Connacht after Christmas at Thomond Park and then we’ll travel up to Ravenhill for the Ulster game at the start of January so we need to make sure the players are still fresh for those games.”