Warburton: Ball in play time 'crucial' in France

SAM Warburton believes fitness and management of ball in play time could be the difference in this World Cup.

- BEN JAYCOCK

Warburton, who won 74 Wales caps and captained the Lions in 2013 and 2017, says teams with destructive but less mobile packs like South Africa will want a lower ball in play time, while the more athletic and dynamic sides like Australia, New Zealand and Wales will want it to be as high as possible.

Warburton said: “Fitness levels are heightened when Wales play Portugal for example. You’re going to see a much bigger gulf then, but some smart teams who don’t pride themselves on fitness like South Africa manage to strangle the game plan so it doesn’t go to those levels.

“South Africa are comfortable with a ball in play time of around 30 minutes or less, while Australia, New Zealand and Wales will want to push that to 35 plus. You can be the least fittest team and still win by manipulating the tactics of the game; keeping the ball in play, less errors, less set-piece, so the game’s not so stop start.

“But South Africa are versatile and can probably go 35 minutes plus. Portugal and other teams aren’t going to compete with the top 10 sides in the world if games are going over 30 minutes because they won’t have the natural fitness levels from playing high level competition regularly.”

When Wales beat England on August 5 in Cardiff, head coach Warren Gatland said after the game that his side were ‘too fit for them’.