Taking a break can be half the battle in World Cup marathon

DOWNTIME: Ireland's players had a three day downtime period to spend with family and friends after the South Africa clash. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

For Namibia the game is over. This may be an elongated World Cup but Allister Coetzee’s men rattled through their four Pool A games in the space of 18 days. They will be the first of the 20 teams to take their leave of France.

Not until tomorrow, though. Their exit will be staggered: from a return to their idyllic Aix-les-Bains base camp in the east of the country yesterday, through a quick visit to Paris today and tonight, and then home via one of the capital’s airports.

“It’s the end of the adventure and I must say it was an adventure,” said Coetzee.

For others, the real thrills and spills are still to come.

The decider is still another month in the distance which means that those teams still involved will have been on the road together - through pre-season camps, warm-up games and the tournament itself - for a staggering four months and change.

Ireland, England, Wales and France are all on their ‘down’ weeks right now and, while work will continue away from the bright lights, players, coaches and backroom staff have taken the opportunity to spirit themselves away and close the door for a bit on the World Cup.

Andy Farrell handed out three-day passes to his troops after their defeat of South Africa last weekend and England players have popped up in locations as diverse as Nice, Paris and Disneyland. Some, as with Ireland, have preferred to stay around base camp and unwind.

For all of them there will be the understanding that this is the last calm before the storm. An opportunity to pop into Paris, as South Africa’s Jean Kleyn did last week, or to pop the 1,200km down to the Riviera from Le Touquet as England’s Freddie Steward has done.

“I remember from last time in the knockouts it definitely does go up a level and it is intense,” said England’s Jonny May who is experiencing his third World Cup. 

“So let’s take a breath a little bit, try and unwind a bit. I would say we are in a good spot.” 

Small nothings become welcome distractions when routine is so established this long so the All Blacks are loving their e-scooters and making the most of the fact that their Lyon base is considered the ‘belly’ of France.

The South American teams are big into their asados, the Boks swear by the braais while the Italians have been switching off on the golf course where defence coach Marius Goosen has been the star turn in their own private Ryder Cups.

The Azzurri, like Ireland and every other team, have recognised that there are times when it is simply good to talk as well and their version of Gary Keegan is a psychologist who is on secondment from the Italian army for the duration.

"We have a meeting … maybe once a week in groups. We maybe try and solve problems together or talk about something. But also individually,” said flanker Giovanni Pettinelli earlier in the tournament.

“If you have any doubts about yourself or something you can go and speak to him and he will take care of you and your mind. It [the mind] is one of the most important parts of a rugby player.” 

If Namibia’s tournament is over too soon then it felt like Scotland’s took too long to start. A disappointing opening weekend loss to South Africa was followed by a week off in the beautiful but removed surrounds of Provence. If routine can grind then it’s much worse without a game to aim for.

“It’s tough,” said Scotland’s Scott Cummings before Sunday’s game against Romania. “You’re coming in every day, doing the same sort of things, building towards the same stuff, living in a hotel. We’ve been in our hotel for about three weeks now.

“It is just about not letting people go into their shells, going out for a meal sometimes on a day off. There’s a lot of Playstation being played, getting tournaments going, things like that, keeping morale up as much as we can."

The Scots have been housed just outside Nice since the end of August now and it’s a sign of just how the weeks can drag even in the most opulent of areas that Cummings is happy to be leaving this week for the colder climes of Lille up north where they face Romania.

“It’s a lovely part of the country but it will be good to see somewhere else and not always be in Nice,” he said.