Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Saunas and ice baths are the order of the day as the Wallabies brace for brutal heat and Eddie Jones’ game plan for Japan to run the tourists ragged.
The Wallabies face the Brave Blossoms in the first Test of the Les Kiss era on Saturday night in Osaka, where the sapping heat is already draining the Australians.
Strike forward Rob Valetini was scrambling for a towel to wipe off the sweat when he fronted for Tuesday’s media call as soaring temperatures and humidity take their toll on the Wallabies.
To prepare, Kiss is turning up the volume at training and demanding the players regularly jump in the hotel sauna.
“We’re just trying to get daily exposures to that and I don’t know if it’s working today. It was pretty cooked,” Valetini said.
“So we’ll see how we go. With the heat, obviously it’s a bit different to Canberra at the moment.”
With that in mind, Valetini suspects former Brumbies coach and Canberra local Jones will be plotting to fatigue the Wallabies with an up-tempo running game.
“Japan are a team that love to play fast,” said the big No.8.
“We saw in a few of the (Nations Championship) games against France and Ireland where they were taking quick taps, even in their half.
“So we know that they want to play fast and obviously it’s quite hot here, so we think they’ll try to use that to their game plan and try and run us off our feet.
“So it will be important for us to adapt to the weather here and we have been doing that with saunas sort of daily. Hopefully we’re prepared well for the weekend.”
With the Wallabies ending an otherwise disappointing 12-from-29 campaign under Joe Schmidt with a 57-10 victory over Italy last start, Valetini knows it is crucial to open the new era under Kiss with a win.
“If you look back to the last three games we played and on home soil, I thought we gelled well and played probably some of our best rugby that we have in the past few years,” he said.
“So we’re definitely trending and this game is going to be definitely important.”
Scorcher in Japan 🇯🇵☀️ pic.twitter.com/bd165PfFtn— Wallabies (@wallabies) August 2, 2026
The NSW Waratahs and Western Force, meanwhile, have boosted their ranks with promising new signings.
Former Melbourne Rebels forward Trevor Hosea has been lured back from Japan by the Force on a two-year deal, while the Waratahs have picked up playmaker Max Burey for two Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
The 26-year-old featured in two Wallabies camps in 2020 and 2021, while Burey, 27, helped Australia to the 2021-2022 world sevens title before having a four-year stint at the Western Force.
Burey was also named player of the tournament after the inaugural Super Rugby AU season in 2025.
