The Young Ospreys traded in their rugby shirts for camouflage as they spent the weekend getting a taste of life in the Army
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Thirty members of the under 18s team spent three days at Cwrt-Y-Gollen, the Army training camp in Crickhowell, building their fitness and team skills with soldiers.
As well as completing an Army fitness test, the young men took on challenges including a log race, an assault course and a run to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain, which takes over an hour and a half. The team even spent an evening under the stars on night patrol, where they identified enemy activity and worked on communication skills.
Academy Manager Gethin Watts said: "The weekend at Crickhowell was a huge success. We are proud to have been associated with the Army over the past 5 seasons - their work has been invaluable in instilling a lot of the qualities required to be successful at the top level in our young Ospreys players.
The activities that were undertaken were, as you can imagine, very tough and tested our young men both physically and, perhaps more importantly, mentally. Mental toughness is something that is talked about a lot in sport and the weekend certainly tested the players' psychological resolve too. The work allowed the players to be seen in a different environment, in which team work was the only way to achieve the desired results.
I would like to thank everyone at the Army for the hard work and professionalism that they showed during the weekend. I hope that we can continue our relationship with them as we at the Young Ospreys are striving to also 'Be the Best' as their motto says."
Captain Colin Jones said: "We have been working with the Young Ospreys for many years, helping the team to develop not only its fitness levels but also its strength as a team. We are always impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm shown by the team and they delivered once again this year."