Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'There is a lot of value in what Andy can teach us' - Will Rowlands

By PA
Will Rowlands looking totally dejected - PA

Wales have tapped into the expertise of psychology and human performance specialist Andy McCann to help navigate their Guinness Six Nations campaign.

ADVERTISEMENT

And lock Will Rowlands believes there is “a lot of value” to what McCann, whose portfolio includes work with Olympic rowers and armed forces, can bring.

The Wales players have already taken part in workshops ahead of Friday’s tough tournament opener against France in Paris.

Video Spacer

Men’s RWC Australia 2027 – Host Cities Announcement

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 4:58
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 4:58
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
    • en (Main), selected
    Video Spacer

    Men’s RWC Australia 2027 – Host Cities Announcement

    World Rugby has officially unveiled the seven host cities for World Cup 2027, taking place in Australia from 1 October to 13 November, 2027.

    McCann assisted the Wales senior men’s team between 2009 and 2017, and his advisory role sees him covering mental skills and performance.

    “I have already found him to be a very interesting source of information you wouldn’t have heard elsewhere,” Rowlands said.

    Fixture
    Six Nations
    France
    43 - 0
    Full-time
    Wales
    All Stats and Data

    “I am mindful that I can get to him, speak to him and pick his brains as much as possible. I think he can be a very useful resource for everyone.

    “You name it, he seems to have worked with people dealing with high pressure situations and strategies around how to best calm yourself and hopefully give the best account of yourself in the moment that you are trying to perform in.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “There is definitely a lot of value in what Andy can teach us. We are looking to try and add the little percentages here and there that can all add up to be quite a big difference to how you perform.”

    Wales head coach Warren Gatland added: “I think the positive about Andy is when he is presenting to the group, he is talking about the realities of professional sport, real life and creating resilience in terms of mental toughness.

    “He has worked with Olympic rowers to break records, he was with the military. He has got a wealth of knowledge in other disciplines, too.

    “The message is always the same. It is about hard work, and it is not always easy.”

    One of Wales’ biggest current challenges is finding a way to win Test matches, having not achieved that feat since the 2023 World Cup.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    They are widely expected to suffer a 13th successive Test loss at Stade de France, where Les Bleus will welcome back skipper Antoine Dupont to the Six Nations arena after he missed last year’s tournament because of Olympic sevens preparations.

    Rowlands, who plays his club rugby for Paris-based Racing 92, said: “I think we are confident that we can put together a good performance and try to enjoy ourselves playing the rugby the way we want to play, and see what happens.

    “We are obviously very respectful of the quality of the French team. I think everyone is pretty much up to speed about what we are going to face.”

    Gatland has spoken about Wales developing a siege mentality as they embark on a tournament for which most bookmakers have written them off as an 80-1 title shot.

    “It has definitely been like that since we have come into camp, after what has happened over the last 12 months or so and the narrative of what has been around Welsh rugby,” Rowlands added.

    “People having zero expectations of us, I think that is a positive place for us. There is only one way out, one way up.

    “There is always pressure when you play. In some ways it takes off a bit of pressure.”

    Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now 

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Boks Office | Episode 36 | Six Nations Round 3 Review

    England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

    HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Men's Day Three Highlights

    HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Women's Day Three Highlights

    "I would love to play with Siya Kolisi" | HSBC Life on Tour | Vancouver

    Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

    Behind the Scenes with the Stars of the Kenya Rugby Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 7

    O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

    Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

    Trending on RugbyPass

    Comments

    0 Comments
    Be the first to comment...

    Join free and tell us what you really think!

    Sign up for free
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Latest Features

    Comments on RugbyPass

    R
    RedWarriors 22 minutes ago
    The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

    SA won two world cups but since 1987 there have been major issues with the draw and scheduling.


    Lets look at Scotland and England. Scotland were ranked #9 immediately after RWC 2019.

    They were ranked #7 a few months after and by 2023 they were ranked #5 in the world.

    England were ranked #3 after RWC 2019 but by 2023 were #7 a full 3 ranking points behind Scotland.

    There are 4 Pools. Because World Rugby used rankings from 2019, England were ranked #1 in their pool in with Argentina and Japan and Scotland were ranked #3 in their pool in with South Africa and Ireland. The pools went as youd expect: Scotland were eliminated and England got through to a QF where they got to play Fiji and scraped through to a semi.

    At the end of that tournament England were now a full 3 ranking points ahead of Scotland. This wasn’t due to better rugby. It was entirely due to the draw.

    Now England are in #6, Scotland are in #7 and England are favourites to be #1 Pool seeds (6 pool) in 2027 and Scotland will end up as #2 seeds.

    In effect Scotland are still reeling from the draw in 2023 which was based on the rankings in 2027.

    Considering the amount of admirable effort, money etc that Scotland have put into improving this is an utterly unforgivable outcome from World Rugby.

    This isnt new Draw disasters and scheduling bias has been going on since the start.

    The ONLY reason it is being dealt with now is because NZ and SA were affected and the world could see how ridiculous it was having the QFs with opponents that should be in SFs, and having great teams like Scotland not even qualify from their Pool.


    (I don’t have beef with SA beyond their (and the Kiwis) high proportion of arrogant, brash supporters (see abuse directed at me above) and in the case of the NZ team, lack of respect for other teams.)

    34 Go to comments
    R
    RedWarriors 44 minutes ago
    The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

    Everyone agreed that the draw was absurd. NZ and SA were the most vocal in criticism before the Pool stages, but then the narrative changed after their squeeked through the QFs.

    The reason you had to play France and England was because you lost to Ireland.

    The draw helped you in that you got to play France in a QF where none of their players had knock-out winning experience. You play England first and then France, and your task becomes significantly harder. If you are also scheduled to play #5 ranked Scotland the week before France then you lose.


    I thought Ireland did rise for the NZ match. Inside a week after Scotland and with resultant fatigue and injury. NZ prepared for a year for that match including identifying a potential infringemnt in Porters scrummaging which yielded 4 penalties. The NZ scrum coach remarked that the ref spent every scrum looking at Porter and not at NZ front row. Kudos, thats clever.


    The fact we got within one score and went out attacking in their 22 shows we were right up for it. Particularly given NZ were so much better than SA in the final (except for the red).


    Hats off to SA. But the idea that SA are a match for the great NZ team of the 2010s is ludicrous. SA were not the best team in there pool in both 2029 and 2023. They are average in between world cups. They have lost in 4 out of 5 matches against one opponent. Sorry but there it is.


    (Anyone can spot a troll, using personal abuse against a person’s opinion being a pretty reliable indicator.)

    34 Go to comments
    TRENDING
    TRENDING Maori All Blacks and All Blacks XV flyer re-signs with Hurricanes Maori All Blacks and All Blacks XV flyer re-signs with Hurricanes
    Search