New chapter in Welsh rugby to be covered live

Tomorrow (28 October) marks the official opening of the WRU National Centre of Excellence - and the Welsh Rugby Union website at www.wru.co.uk will mark this momentous occasion by streaming the event live.

This brand new £2.5 million facility sited at the Vale Resort Golf & Country Club, Hensol, is considered to be the best of its kind in the world game and has been designed to offer every possible advantage to the preparation of Welsh rugby’s elite national squads.

The WRU National Centre of Excellence will place Welsh rugby at the forefront of player development where a high performance ‘finishing school’ has been created where every aspect of international rugby preparation will be catered for.

Personnel attending this prestigious occasion include WRU Chief Executive Roger Lewis, First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Wales Sports Council Chairman Phil Carling, Wales National Coach Warren Gatland, selected squad players and other relevant VIPs.

WRU Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis, said: “I am delighted that Wales now has an international training and development facility which will be the envy of the rugby playing world.

“It has taken a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment to achieve this and the end result is a National Centre of Excellence the whole of Wales can be proud of.

“This centre represents a statement to the rest of the world that we are truly committed to the priority of creating a winning Wales team which will be the driving force to sustain our national sport for generations to come.”

WRU Chairman, David Pickering, added: “The creation of a National Centre of Excellence creates an important new chapter in the history of our national sport.

“Wales has always boasted the playing talent to compete with the best, but we know that in the modern game professional players must work tirelessly to achieve their full potential.

“We are a small nation and the level of expertise now at hand in our systems and structures will make sure that we will identify and nurture the young men and women who have the talent to be full internationals.”

Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland, said: “By creating this fantastic facility we are treating all our players with the utmost respect and now we can ask them to deliver their best for Wales.

“All of us in the national squad are delighted that the Welsh Rugby Union has had the vision and determination to achieve this major improvement in facilities for our international squads.”

To view this ground breaking venture, simply log on www.wru.co.uk this Wednesday between 1.40pm and 2.40pm.