Shape up, or ship out
6 Feb 2006
Springboks who do not meet the team’s fitness requirements this season will find themselves out of the national side.
“There are performance clauses in the players’ contracts and if they don’t meet them, it could have far-reaching consequences,” Bok conditioning coach Derick Coetzee told Die Burger on Monday.
Coetzee believes that this year will have a major impact on the Boks’ performance at the 2007 World Cup, and if players are not properly rested during the Super 14, Tri-Nations and Currie Cup, the Boks could face an injury crisis when they can least afford it.
If only nine of the 20 contracted Bok players were able to do all the fitness tests in January, how will things look in May?
Coetzee hopes the Super 14 coaches will look after their key players, but with the threat of relegation on everyone’s minds, his plea could fall on deaf ears.
“We must do things correctly now if we want to be successful next year,” he said. “It doesn’t help that we offer excuses afterwards that our players weren’t properly conditioned.”
64 Comments
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6 Feb 2006, 13:08 pm
yeah the best team that never won a WC.
that must suck hey.
4 more years plonker……..
6 Feb 2006, 13:21 pm
Tackler, I agree with experimentation, I just don’t want to waste my money on a Bok training game.
I pay to watch the Bokke play, not practise.
6 Feb 2006, 13:50 pm
Snoop,
You think the Currie Cup is pointless? Tell that to Rassie,the Cheetahs and their fans.
Pissant,
“i would rather cut the S14″. This is all a bit blinkered. So the Boks would only play internationals on their march to your Holy Grail, the World Cup? How would anyone challenge them for their place in the side while they’re wrapped in cotton wool and choking on moth balls.
I like rugby whether it be NPC, Currie Cup, S14, 3N, 6N. Preventing physical and mental burnout is all about managing the players adequately, that’s all.
6 Feb 2006, 13:52 pm
PA,
fair enough, but a different opinion might be that S12 is as close as one is likely to come to test match rugby without actually experimenting with one’s national team.
Lets face it, at least 2 of the SA sides perenially dont win a game the entire season, wouldn’t it be better to amalgamate these 2 sides into a more powerful team for the following season and use the other team slot to be filled by young players with transformation in mind.
6 Feb 2006, 14:03 pm
cab,
i will definately support a gesture like that, only have three or 4 teams then it will serve a purpose.
blouskop,
what value did the S12 had for SA rugby.
we are consistantly poor and no-one is the wiser at the end.
6 Feb 2006, 14:17 pm
PA,
Sure an SA team never won the S12, but I’ve watched some marvellous rugby and a lot of top talent has come through. It is indubitably the premier provincial tournament in the world. Unfortunately our lousy administrators don’t seem to be able to negotiate an equitable format where SA teams compete on an equal footing.
6 Feb 2006, 14:22 pm
The administrators hould break the 14 teams into 2 groups of 7. The top 2 teams from each group play semi’s and the winners play the final. They could even introduce a ‘plate final’ for the teams that finish 3 and have a play off
6 Feb 2006, 14:28 pm
Cubiczirconia,
I would love to see that, with home and away matches against every team in your group. Unfortunately the numbskulls at SARU are too dumb to think of such a thing.
6 Feb 2006, 14:33 pm
The last time we actually stood a chance in the Southern Hemisphere tournament was when it was the Super 10 in the early 90′s and all teams did a similar amount of travelling.
6 Feb 2006, 15:04 pm
Blouskop,
You needed to ready carefully, we were all discussing the RWC, and resting players etc etc blah blah.
The currie is important, just go read em all again.
6 Feb 2006, 15:07 pm
My suggestion was for a new Super 14 format playing each team in your group once with play off after that …
6 Feb 2006, 15:47 pm
I agree with Snoop earlier. JW should be developing 40 players that he can use for the WOrld Cup.
He should have an A and a B side. Use the B side in the early tests and the November tests against the likes of Wales and Ireland. Even if they lose, we will be giving them much needed exposure at this level and then when they are drafted to and from the A side, they will fit into the structures no problem.
Use the strongest team this year for the Tri Nations and the England tests in November. Also, stuff the currie cup. As a competition these days, it has lost it’s appeal. The only reason it ranks so high on everyone’s list of dram wins, is because it’s about all our boys are confident of winning anymore… Use it as a blooding ground for new talent. And lose the small unions who waste time and just make up numbers. WP, Natal, Lions, Bulls, Free State and Griquas or something should compete and have the next generation of players hammering away at each other week after week, before steppiung up to S12 and then Tri Nations etc. The path to being a Springbok should be a hard slog, where you must earn your wings at every level before gaining the ultimate prize.
All this would also help speed transformation along at a far greater pace, because there would be space in the CC teams for the players out there who play second fiddle to the countries top 50 players.
6 Feb 2006, 17:10 pm
Snoop,
I quote your comment no. 5:
“I dont want to see Percy…. Pedrie play in the POINTLESS currie cup and lesser tests this year.
Cubiczirconia,
‘each team in your group once with play off after that’. That still isn’t fair. We should look at something like Champions League or even Premiership soccer in Europe. Those teams would not put up with less. Home and away and then semis and finals for the top two in each group is fair and the S14 teams still would play less matches than the current S14 format, I believe.
6 Feb 2006, 18:44 pm
Simon,
I don’t buy into it
Being fit doesn’t necessarily make you more resiliant to hits and injuries which are part of rugby
Also, I am sure there is(was) a fitness clause in Q. Davids, E. Andrews and L. Sephaka contracts, so, are they really match fit rugby players? any penalty inccured?
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