Georgia embark on urgent fitness mission prior to World Cup

Despite the many positives that come from Georgia exporting so many players to France, there's also the negative of a few clubs shoddy conditioning. With a once in four year chance to get the squad together for months, reports suggest coach Milton Haig is putting a major emphasis on rectifying fitness levels.

There are many benefits that have come from so many Georgian players getting the opportunity to play in France. The players get money, recognition, and experience of elite level rugby matching up against talent from all around the globe.

However there are also downsides. Player release is the most well covered one, although in Georgia's case they have managed to find a pretty reasonable formula of resting players for low key matches in June or the odd ENC match that can be won anyway, and in return for the most part seen few issues for major fixtures or tournaments.

But there is also an issue that hasn't been gone over in quite such depth. The fact that conditioning in France is widely regarded as not of the level of some of the other major rugby forces in the world.

Without doubt the positives still override those issues, but they are still issues that Milton Haig and the coaching staff have to confront every time they get the squad together.

The general consensus is that training in France is far more focused on contact sessions and less fitness and conditioning. In some cases the conditioning training has even met scathing reviews and been described as amateurish.

Jim Hamilton labelled the strength
and conditioning at his French club
(also the one Georgia's first choice
prop plays for) as 'several decades
behind', and many overseas players
in France seem to share that view.

Whilst that of course is a generalisation, and it will vary between teams, with Toulon and Clermont noted to be two sides that both do put a major emphasis on fitness. The view has been backed up by dozens of reports over the years coming from players who've played in France.

Gavin Mortimer, a journalist specialising on French rugby, noted several views which weren't full of praise for French attitudes towards fitness coming from various players. Including Englishman who've played in France like Paul Volley, or Frenchman in England like David Mélé, Abdel Benazzi and Serge Betsen.

Just a few others who've noted the difference in France include Jim Hamilton who said they were 'several decades behind' when it comes to strength and conditioning and the medical and rehab side of the sport. Daniel Leo talked along similar lines. A few years ago Ben Cohen slammed Brive's methods as 'irresponsible' and 'ancient'. Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has complained about fitness levels of players returning from France. Grenoble coach Bernard Jackman (whilst talking about how he was different and focused on strength and conditioning at his own club) also gave mention to fitness not always being great in France and sides struggling to play at full intensity for 80 minutes. James Haskell also spoke in some detail of the lack of emphasis on conditioning in France.

Now in Georgia's case they have players at 18 different French teams in their 41 man training squad. That's more than any other team in the World Cup, so obviously this is something that will be effecting at least some of their players.

The gulf in conditioning and prep-
aration levels when the Georgians
faced Ireland was plain to see and it
has been noted by Haig himself.

Usually Georgia will be playing players prepared for the physical grind of French rugby, not international rugby. But when they played Ireland in November, they were playing a country that takes a completely different approach to domestic rugby in managing players specifically for international rugby, with major players regularly given weeks off in the domestic league (there are also disadvantages to this approach to but that's another debate).

There would have been a huge gulf in the preparation between the teams. Ireland had weeks together before the release window as a squad, and would have been conditioned for performance in that November window.

Georgia had only a few days together before their first game of the window.the key players would have gone through some possibly sub par conditioning regimes in France, plus come off the back of week in week out often hugely physical slugfests in French rugby, not managed over the start of the season for the purpose of being fresh for those November games.

Unsurprisingly, the first half was much more competitive than the second, which was a blowout, and also exacerbated by the fact Georgia played most of the last 30 minutes with either 13 or 14 men. Which came about after Milton Haig brought on his entire bench at around 50 minutes, possibly knowing his XV lacked the conditioning of their opponents, only for it to backfire spectacularly when a player was sin binned then another stretchered off both within just the couple minutes afterwards. It's fair to say a tiring side playing just under a whole 10 minutes with 13 men didn't make for a good combination.

Reports suggest the Georgian staff
are going to do as much as possible
to get the team fitter and reverse
the effects of a few sub par
conditioning regimes in France.

Also recently in the Tbilisi Cup, although the result also to a degree reflected Georgia fielding a lineup that more resembled an 'A' side, Haig himself noted that the conditioning levels of his side were not at the level of the opponents and particularly Emerging Ireland.

The French clubs and dodgy conditioning regimes is something that the Georgian coaching staff will just have to try and make the best of. And they are not alone in having to deal with a short amount of time together prior to those November internationals either, which are matches where Tier 2 sides are always come into at a considerable disadvantage to Tier 1 sides.

With such little time together as a squad, there's usually no chance for Haig and his staff to address the conditioning. But this pre World Cup period has given him a rare chance to assemble his squad for a couple of months before the focus to turns to playing.

Calvin Morriss: Georgian
fitness coach and a man with
an impressive CV that
includes a decade and three
RWC's with England.

From reports of Georgia's preparations for the tournament. It appears the issue of conditioning is what Haig has made a huge priority, and not long ago hired a new fitness coach in Calvin Morriss, who's impressive CV includes fitness coach of England for a decade between 2002 and 2012 including their World Cup win, plus roles with UK Athletics, British Basketball, British Cycling, and the English Institute of Sport.

After a period of lighter training in Georgia, with players still resting from a long season, the Lelos squad are then set to travel for a 3 week camp in Poland where they will use cryotherapy chambers which boost recovery and allow for harder training. A method that is notably one well known by its use by the Welsh squad these past few years. Before then turning attention to the warm up games and rugby. Such preparation may be common for better resourced Tier 1 sides, but it's nearly unheard of for a side like Georgia.

Fitness has certainly been an issue for the Georgians, so it will be interesting to see how successful their work in addressing the problem is, and how significant a difference it can make for them, particularly against Argentina and Tonga both of whom are sides Georgia have led at half time in recent times only to fall away in the last 20.