The RCT launches its European campaign with a long trip to face the Stormers franchise in Port Elizabeth.
The prospect hardly enchanted the captain of the RCT, Baptiste Serin. “It excites me to play the Stormers, but to go there, we will do 1000 hours of flight and take three planes… In a schedule that is what it is… The schedule is too hard! We’re only going to practice once next week. It’s going to be tough in difficult conditions, since we won’t be in the same season.”the scrum half told Rugbyrama.
This Saturday, the Var club is playing the first match in its history in South Africa, against the Stormers of Manie Libbok. Leaving Monday at 2 p.m. from the Campus, the Toulonnais arrived in (good) Port-Elizabeth this Tuesday after a 24-hour journey.
The RCT’s performance director, Sébastien Bourdin, revealed in the columns of Var-matin that the players have been preparing for climate change for three weeks. During weight training sessions, the room temperature is set at 27 degrees.
“In Port Elizabeth, we should find weather that could go up to 26-28 degrees. So, since the guys came back from the break, we’ve been making them work in the heat on Campus. Organizations must be ready. In theory, it takes between 6 and 8 sessions to adapt to a change in temperature, so we preferred to get ahead. So, obviously, we can’t change the humidity, but we did the best possible to adapt the players to the heat they will find in South Africa. This is also why the guys are tired in the afternoon, because they do big sessions in the heat.”
Senegal
