Wales unveil their Performance Coach

Neal has been attached to the squad since the start of this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship and has been contracted to the national coaching set-up through to the Rugby World Cup 2007. He will play an important role for the rest of the RBS Six Nations, on tour to Australia, during summer warm-up games and at the Rugby World Cup.

The faculty member of Ashridge Business School and former Academy advisor to England & West Indies Cricket boards and the International Cricket Conference has also worked for the RFU.

He comes to the Welsh rugby team as a consultant and will work closely with coaches and players alike on a wide range of factors with the long term aim of improving and maintaining performance both on and off the pitch.

“John will bring a new dimension to our team and will be of value to everyone across the board, from senior players right down through the age groups and to management,” said Jenkins. “We are about creating an environment for elite performance and that means looking at every area of what we do and accessing top level expertise wherever we can.

“John has already had a positive impact on the squad and he comes to us with high recommendation and a long list of previous successes in the field of sports psycho-physiology and performance.”

Neal was educated at Borough Road College, London University where he achieved a Bachelor of Humanities in Physical Education. He went on to specialise in psycho-physiology and elite performance studying at Ashridge, London and Newcastle colleges.

“My role will be to advise the coaches and the players on the best management practice in given situations,” said Mr Neal. “Elite sport is a high pressure environment that needs structure and needs expertise in all areas of best practice to ensure the maximum beneficial outcome.

“The business world has many parallels and there is a whole host of research out there which applies proper scientific method to problem solving in these situations.

“I’m not replacing any attribute already present in the management team, but I do see my role as establishing structures to enhance the talents available there as well as with the players.

“Psycho-physiology and performance coaching has an established record of showing results and I’m relishing the opportunity of working with one of the top teams in world sport over the coming season. I will be putting structures in place to ensure we have mentally tough, well organised rugby players throughout Wales.”

WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis added: “Mr Neal has an established pedigree of working with elite athletes in world sport.

“He will be an asset to the Wales management team and his presence is proof that we recognise the demands of professional rugby on the modern athlete and as a Union we are determined to invest in all the necessary areas to ensure our teams are fully prepared.

“This ensures we will be competing at the same resource level as other top international teams around the world.”