Wigan coach Wane planning more link-ups with Bath RUFC

Correspondent

Wigan coach Shaun Wane has enjoyed his squad working with the rugby union players from Bath this week, and hopes that there will be more joint training sessions this season.

Bath, coached by former Wigan, Oldham and Castleford player Mike Ford, were working with the Warriors after a similar session in the south west last season.

“They looked after us well at Bath last year,” Wane explained.

“I was really impressed with the facilities. We went on a decent run in the play-offs, so it paid off.

“This was sorted out a few months ago, and we wanted to return the favour.

“We’ve had a great couple of days with them.

“We’re running against players who don’t know our systems, so it’s been really beneficial.

“To have ex-league men here like Sam Burgess, Mike Ford and Kyle Eastmond, it’s been a very good two days and we’ve really enjoyed it.

“I played with Mike Ford as a player myself, and I’m very close to Kyle Eastmond and Sam Burgess. It’s very important to me that we do help them.

“I like the fact that they’re very forward-thinking and they want to do things differently, which is very similar to us.

“I want it to carry on going too, I want to get to Bath at some time this year ourselves.”

Wane felt that the unfamiliarity of Bath’s players to the Wigan squad will have helped his men hone their attacking and defensive structures.

“They’ve get a bit more out of the attack than we do, because we’ve been doing it for years,” he said.

“It shows to me that Mike Ford is a very forward-thinking coach, he’s trying to think of ways of being the best in union –  I admire that.

“We’ve worked on certain things, like with their kickers, as well, to try and improve our kickers.

“We’re just trying to get benefits for both clubs.

“It was important to me that we got something out of it, that having Bath wasn’t all about them learning and getting things out of it.

“We wanted to get something out of it, and we have. Various things in those two days that we’ve done together have been very beneficial for us.

“Even the fact of running against different people helps. We usually just run against our Under-19s each day and they know what we’re going to do, so it has been a big help.”