Captain Matthew Rees maintains confidence in the Wales camp has never been higher after completing a gruelling training camp in Poland.
After finishing the 2011 RBS 6 Nations on a downer after a resounding 28-9 defeat to France, Warren Gatland has ruthlessly put his 35-man squad through their paces in Spala ahead of their World Cup warm-up games against England and South Africa.
That training camp included getting up for a 5.15am run but Rees believes the squad have reaped the benefits of Gatland’s hard line.
And with competition for places never more intense than with experienced heads and young guns facing off for a place in the final 30-man squad, hooker Rees says Wales are exactly where they need to be with the World Cup just over a month away.
He said: “It was a bit of a shock to the system, but it was just a case for the boys of shaking yourself off, putting a smile on your face and getting on with it.
“The whole camp has been about mental and physical toughness, so I thought the coaches had got it spot on.
“It’s certainly not something we are used to, everyone was physically fatigued and taken out of their comfort zone a little bit more.
“It put everyone under pressure at the end at the end of a long and hard week it was the last thing anyone wanted to do, but that’s exactly the kind of pressure we will be under at the World Cup.
“Warren and the coaches need to pick their final 30 before New Zealand and I know the boys have made it difficult for them.
“There have been no egos, no one relying on reputation and the competition right across the squad has been intense.
“The younger players have pushed hard, but the senior boys have made sure they have put their hands up to and everyone to a man has done what has been asked of them.
“We are a stronger unit for it and should take confidence, but now we must perform.
“The pressure will be on and we will have to perform, but it all starts with England next week.
“We’ve put the hard graft in and, from now on, it’s all about the rugby.”
“We know South Africa’s strengths, but we have ability and guile throughout this squad and we need to go into that first game brimming with confidence based on these August warm-up fixtures.”