Cardiff Blues continued preparations for the inaugural World Club 10s with a friendly training clash with Super 15 giants Auckland Blues in Singapore on Thursday morning.
Blues are currently in a training camp in Southeast Asia ahead of the 10s tournament at the new 55,000-seater National Stadium at the Singapore Sports Hub.
Temperatures continue to soar into the mid-30 degrees in Singapore and with high humidity the players are being put through their paces in extremely testing weather conditions.
The countdown to the competition gathered pace today (Thursday) as Blues faced Auckland Blues in a friendly match at their Anglo Chinese Independent School training base.
And Coach Dale McIntosh said the game had been a worthwhile exercise prior to the tournament that takes place this weekend featuring Cardiff Blues, Brumbies, Asia Pacific Dragons, Petrarca Rugby, Auckland Blues, Biarritz, London Welsh and Samoa Water Presidents 10s.
“We’ve trained several times in the hot and humid weather this week and at different times of the day to try and get the players used to the testing conditions they will face,” said the Chief.
“The games are played over two ten-minute periods and it’s vital we use rolling subs because the weather conditions will certainly take it out of you very quickly.
“We spoke to Auckland Blues about the possibility of a hit out with them and we were pleased to be able to arrange the friendly game and run through several set plays and get some game action under our belt.
“It was a very worthwhile exercise for us; we learnt a great deal that we can now use this weekend. We will now team run at the national stadium on Friday morning before the competition - all the players are looking forward to getting started.”