Waratahs stars Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, Rob Simmons smash personal fitness records

THE Waratahs 2017 season was so disappointing they turned to their greatest Super Rugby rival for inspiration in the off-season. But the unusual method is starting to pay dividends.

Israel Folau is recharged and smashing records during pre-season.

ISRAEL Folau and a host of Waratahs superstars have clocked career-best fitness test results this pre-season, coach Daryl Gibson has revealed.

The stunning results have come after a sombre meeting on August 5 last year when the NSW squad gathered to debrief on their appalling 2017 season (four wins, 11 losses) when they finished third-last.

Gibson had the entire squad look at Super Rugby champions the Crusaders, and examine the differences between the two sides.

Israel Folau is recharged and smashing records during pre-season.

“We looked at the Crusaders, and everyone sees the amount of All Blacks they have, but what [coach] Scott Robertson did really well was raise the level of performance of what you’d consider his squad players who played over and above,” Gibson told the Daily Telegraph.

“They had a real mindset to committing themselves to excellence, we’ve learned a lot from that.

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“The return standard of our players from off-season, we’ve recorded a number of personal bests, career bests, from those athletes, on our fitness tests

“We’re talking Rob Simmons, Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps, Israel Folau. So our best players at their best.

“But our squad players are at their best too, and that is the expectation this year.

“That points to me that our attitude and commitment to our physical conditioning is excellent, we’ve just got to get the footy right.

“Israel had the benefit of the sabbatical for eight weeks, we are all going to receive the benefit of that.

Daryl Gibson is confident the Tahs can turn it around in 2018. Picture: Gregg Porteous

“The signs are positive. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve got the foundations of a fit team, and one that’s got a clear purpose.”

Many of the squad players who Gibson hopes will make the difference this year will be on show at the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens tournament on Friday and Saturday at Suncorp Stadium.

Outside centre and wing positions are still up for grabs, Gibson said, revealing that new recruits Curtis Rona and Lalakai Foketi are jostling for the No.13 jersey, while the wing spots will be a battle between Cam Clark, Taqele Naiyaravoro and Western Force recruit Alex Newsome.

All five will be in action for the Tahs in the Tens.

“I brought a number of my outside backs and I see this as a real opportunity for them to put their hand up for selection,” Gibson said.

“It’s still very open.”

Gibson is not panicking after last week’s 55-29 trial match defeat to Kiwi side the Highlanders, noting that in the first trial of last year NSW defeated the Brumbies 53-17 before embarking on their disastrous season.

“We’ll take a lot from it and learn from it,” Gibson said.

Gibson talks to Bernard Foley (L) and Kurtley Beale (C).

“Typically what happens is, our season ends, you do your review, and then the players go and you don’t see them until five months later.

“We wanted to change that after last season, and make sure we’re building them, even though they’re involved in different programs (Wallabies or NRC), so that we’re still working away so when the team does reunite that we’ve covered the work towards what sort of team do we want to be.

“Normally you’d reserve that stuff until January when your full team is together. Because we’ve done that work, we’ve moved a lot quicker.”

Originally published as Waratahs stars Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, Rob Simmons smash personal fitness records