Boks’conditioning in the spotlight

Published Oct 25, 2016

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It’s not only the Springboks’ gameplan, their defence and aerial skills that will be under scrutiny on next month’s tour of Europe, but their fitness as well.

As is usually the case at this time of year, the tour group’s conditioning will be under the microscope following another gruelling rugby season. The majority of the players have been at it since February when Super Rugby kicked off and they pretty much went straight into the Currie Cup, which wrapped up this last weekend. On top of that, there was the pre-season, which started in November last year, as well as the hundreds of hours spent on the training ground.

In a nutshell, the Boks are a spent force in November in Europe. But they’ll be asked to get up and perform against the Barbarians, England, Italy and Wales, starting from November 5.

And then, Bok boss Allister Coetzee will also have to reintegrate those players who’re playing in Europe and in Japan, who’ll only join the Boks on the Monday before the England Test. It doesn’t give him or his coaching team much time to put in place their plans for the next few weeks.

Only a handful of the players who did duty in the Rugby Championship will be somewhat rejuvenated now after being told to rest for the November tour. They are mainly the players who have Springbok contracts and then there are also those men whose Currie Cup teams failed to make the play-offs, allowing them to put their feet up.

Here one thinks of Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Tendai Mtawarira, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Oupa Mohoje, Pat Lambie and Jesse Kriel.

But, conditioning remains a problem area for the Boks; as was evidenced during the Rugby Championship when it became all too clear that the likes of the All Blacks seemed to out-last Coetzee’s men and actually upped their performance the longer the matches went on.

Coetzee says the issue is hugely concerning now, ahead of the four-match tour, and will be addressed by the South African Rugby Union immediately after the trip to the UK and Italy.

“Conditioning is such an important aspect that it wasn’t even dealt with at the recent indaba ... it was felt it needs to be handled completely on its own,” said Coetzee as his team started preparations for the tour in Joburg.

“There will be an indaba in December to just focus on conditioning, but the reality is there is no way we can have a single model for it in our country.

“It’s just not practical; we’re sitting with overseas based players, home-grown players, and we’re sitting with players who don’t play in the Currie Cup, but only in Super Rugby, and then there are those 12 to 15 who’re on the injured list.

“Every individual’s needs have to be addressed separately. We must also bear in mind that the needs of the Lions players, for example, will differ from those of the Stormers players; one might have strength problems, the other aerobic problems.

“But yes, we can identify common problem areas and look into those technical aspects. It’ll come ... if we can get a 10 percent collaboration next year then we’ve already made progress and will be better off than now.”

Better conditioning, and more individually based programmes, will also help alleviate the growing injury list, which includes the likes of Julian Redelinghuys, Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Marcel Coetzee, Francois Louw, Siya Kolisi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Duane Vermeulen, Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Jan Serfontein, Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard.

“We’re going to prepare as best we can, put our plans in place and I believe we will always give ourselves a chance,” said Coetzee about the assignment that lies ahead. “But the condition of the squad at this time of year is always a big challenge.”

The Star

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