Alun Wyn Jones

Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones will captain the British & Irish Lions on their South Africa tour later this year.

British & Irish Lions to train in multi-million pound den

The British & Irish Lions will be training at a multi-million pound venue in Jersey to simulate the altitude conditions they will encounter in South Africa.

Alun Wyn Jones

Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones will captain the British & Irish Lions on their South Africa tour later this year.

The British & Irish Lions will be training at a multi-million pound venue in Jersey to simulate the altitude conditions they will encounter in South Africa.

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The British & Irish Lions will be using Strive, a specialised venue adjusted to simulate the altitude conditions the Lions will face when playing in Johannesburg.

Warren Gatland’s 37-man squad will travel to Johannesburg for two Tests, both at the FNB Stadium.

Johannesburg is roughly 1 750m above sea level. The Jersey venue aims simulate these conditions.

It holds two altitude chambers that can be controlled manually.

They can be sealed off and on to replicate the low levels of oxygen that will be experienced when the Lions travel to Johannesburg.

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The state of the art venue covers over 30 000 square metres.

Strive contains a 930m² gym, a hydrotherapy pool and a lecture theatre with interactive screens.

The screens will be used for team meetings during the series, while the hydrotherapy pool will be used for injured players to recover.

Jersey Reds coach Ben Harvey is the visionary behind Strive. He is excited to host the British & Irish Lions.

“Bringing the Lions over is a dream. It’s a bit nuts, really”, Harvey said.

“I didn’t know much about rugby, but I know less about building. It’s been a huge learning curve. It’s very exciting, stressful, but it’s been amazing”, added Harvey.

Strive is a top sporting facility that could potentially host the Springboks and the All Blacks later this year.