How much rugby is too much? Part II

02 December 2009 in Springboks by Dooley

Are professional rugby players playing too much rugby these days? This is a issue that many a fan is thinking about at the moment. As I mentioned before, there are two schools of thought on this:

One being that a few Springboks in key positions have been playing far too much non-stop rugby, and it’s beginning to take its toll. The other being that this is their profession, they are rugby players, and therefore should play rugby.

Let’s put things into perspective here, it’s just over a year and a half until the 2011 IRB RWC in New Zealand, and if certain players are going to last until then, they are going to have to be managed very carefully. My feelings on the matter being that certain players, for example, Bakkies Botha, who has allegedly been nursing a knee injury all season, should never have gone on the Autumn internationals end of year tour.

If you remember back to our exclusive Q&A sesh with Os du Randt, we chatted about the value of John Smit’s captaincy being clear for all to see and whether Os thinks he can make it to the 2011 RWC and still be a force to reckon with. This was his reply:

Os:I think he can make it, but I strongly feel he must rest from rugby for at least the super 14 next year. If you go look you will see he has played a lot of games in the last 4-5 years. I think mentally he is really tired, as the captaincy also takes a huge toll on him, not to mention before the RWC, where everybody wanted him out of the Bok squad. After the RWC he stayed behind to play in the French league, then came back and is still playing with no proper break.

We have one of the most experienced rugby teams the world has ever seen. We need to keep the backbone of this team intact, fit and rearing to go. With that and the correct mangement of blooding new players, we have a real chance of becoming the 1st nation ever to succesfully defend the RWC trophy.