Wales coach Mike Ruddock says the squad's fitness and conditioning man Andrew Hore will be badly missed when he returns to New Zealand. "Andrew more than anyone else has done so much to get this squad up to the level seen in a Grand Slam season," Ruddock told BBC Sport Wales.
"We've made massive strides, he's been a catalyst for change in our culture."
It is hoped that Hore will remain for the autumn internationals, but plans are in place to find a replacement.
"We'll miss Andrew, but we've been working with him to find the right replacement," said Ruddock.
"There's no need to panic and I'm confident that we'll find the right man.
"But it's not just a fitness coach, we need someone like Andrew, a sports scientist with great planning skills and a great personality - a special sort of guy. "Every player values the work he's done and his shoes will take a lot of filling."
Hore, 33, is credited with raising the fitness of the Wales players to a new level in his three years with the side, fighting for the Union's state-of-the-art Vale of Glamorgan training facilities, and establishing nation-wide conditioning programs.
He is to return to his homeland in the autumn to take up a post working with the New Zealand Rugby Union's 14 rugby academies.
"We've known for quite a while that he wanted a managerial role and we'd have liked him to stay and do that with us," said Ruddock.
"But circumstances change and he's just had a new baby with his young family.
 |  I am leaving the Wales squad before they reach their physical peak which will be 18 months or two years down the line |
"The opportunity arose in New Zealand and it was the right time to go, we fully understand that." Hore himself claims that the current Wales squad will not hit their fitness potential until the 2007 World Cup.
"It will be very hard to leave Wales, especially the players," he said.
"All the more so because I am leaving them before they reach their physical peak which will be 18 months or two years down the line.
"I know they will go from strength to strength. Two years out from the World Cup it is an exciting time for a new person to come in.
"The players are so committed to their own personal development that they themselves will drive it forward."
MMIX
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