The sight of a young family having seemingly spent the night in a car park next to the Stade Charles-Ehrmann in Nice on Tuesday put the importance of Wales’ World Cup bid into perspective.
As two young girls braided each other’s hair and sheltered from the searing Côte d’Azur heat, a man and a woman rummaged through bins in search of something to eat.
It was heartbreaking to watch. At the other end of the car park, aspiring motorcycle riders practiced for their test by weaving in and out of cones to hone their skills.
Inside the ground, Warren Gatland’s players did likewise, only without the aid of horsepower.
Wales’ team bus pulled up on the other side of the ground to the car park, the squad filing into the changing room with the majority wearing either flip flops, sliders or Crocs.
Wales returned to training on Tuesday ahead of their clash against Portugal on Saturday
Warren Gatland has no injury concerns following the 32-26 win over Fiji on Sunday
Wales face Portugal on Saturday before taking on Australia in a crucial clash on September 24
After starting their recovery from a brutal victory over Fiji with a dip in the crystal clear waters of the French Riviera on Monday night, Wales’ focus is now on Portugal.
Different location, same conditions.
Wales have moved from Versailles, to Bordeaux, and now on to Nice. The heat remains, but Wales’ World Cup journey now has momentum behind it after their opening success.
Gatland’s side nearly threw away victory. Had Fiji magician Semi Radradra collected a pass with the clock in the red or had referee Matthew Carley not lost his cards, Wales may well have lost.
But they did not. And, as Dan Biggar said, winning is everything at World Cups.
Wales will, barring the biggest of upsets, beat Portugal with a bonus point on Saturday and consequently move to a perfect 10 points from two games.
It will send them into the crunch Pool C game with Australia in fine fettle.
Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles to somehow emerge 32-26 winners in their first game. Gatland is set to make a number of changes for Portugal and understandably so.
Wales got their World Cup off to a winning start but could well have lost to Fiji
The brutal nature of the encounter took its toll of Wales, with Gatland set to rest several players against Portugal this weekend
Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles in the sweltering heat in Bordeaux
The question is, how many?
Fly-half Biggar, full-back Liam Williams and lock Adam Beard all trained separately to the main group at Wales’ Tuesday afternoon session. All three are unlikely to face Portugal.
Gareth Anscombe is poised to start at 10 in place of Biggar with Leigh Halfpenny replacing Williams, although Gatland could opt for Sam Costelow as playmaker.
Dafydd Jenkins will, in all likelihood, step in for Beard in the second row alongside Will Rowlands who made a mammoth 27 of Wales’ total tackles against Fiji without missing one.
Rowlands played down the nature of his achievement in no-nonsense fashion.
Dan Biggar trained separately on Tuesday and he’s likely to be rested against Portugal
Liam Williams also trained separately and is unlikely to feature on Saturday in Nice
‘It is a six-day turnaround, so it makes sense to make a few changes with the nature of the game we’ve just played,’ said Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas.
‘It is safe to say there will be changes. We have complete faith in the whole squad.’
It will be interesting to see if No 8 Taulupe Faletau faces Portugal.
Faletau missed all three of Wales’ World Cup warm-up games in August with a calf problem.
He started against Fiji given his status as one of Gatland’s most experienced and high quality players and made it to the 58 minute mark before running out of puff.
Faletau has indicated he wants to face Portugal to improve his match fitness ahead of the Australia game. Eddie Jones’ Wallabies are the big fish Wales want to catch.
Gatland will name his team for Portugal on Wednesday afternoon.
Will Rowlands made an astonishing 27 tackles in the six-point win against Fiji, but he played down the nature of achievement in typically understated fashion
Gatland will name his team to face Portugal on Wednesday afternoon
‘It’s good to be back out there. The best thing was the result – it’s what we wanted. We’re happy with that,’ Faletau said after the Fiji win, before admitting he found the pace of the game difficult.
‘It was tough I won’t lie. It was tough going. I haven’t played much and with game time you hope to get better.’
Even after the brutality of the Fiji game, Wales have no serious injury concerns.
‘We are very happy with the victory. With the nature of the World Cup, we’ve had 12 weeks to think about the first game,’ Thomas said.
‘Are we satisfied with where we are at? There is always room for improvement in our game. We are certainly not getting ahead of ourselves.
Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas hinted Wales will reshuffle the team against Portugal as there were ‘a number of sore bodies’ in camp
Taulupe Faletau has indicated he wants to face Portugal to improve his match fitness ahead of the Australia game
Leigh Halfpenny could make his first Rugby World Cup start in eight years against Portugal
‘There are a number of sore bodies, but there are no injury concerns.’
Several hours after Wales’ players had finished training and Thomas, Rowlands and Jenkins had faced the press, the young family were back outside the Stade Charles-Ehrmann.
The area near the ground is one of Nice’s poorest and with lots of high-rise buildings. In a plush city dominated by on the whole a cash-rich society, it is a marked contrast to the status quo.
At a tram stop, one of the young girls was begging for money. It was another reminder of how fortunate the Wales team – and those following it – are.
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