It’s up to the players
12 May 2006
The decision to rest the Springboks from the Currie Cup was rubber-stamped by the players themselves months ago.
When Bok coach Jake White announced the decision to pull the top Boks from the next two Currie Cup competitions, it was greeted with a certain amount of scepticism by media and public alike. One of the ramifications of that decision is those players who miss out on the domestic scene are likely to lose a substantial amount of money.
SA Rugby Players’ Association boss Piet Heymans told keo.co.za that the players were consulted throughout the process which started in July last year.
“It is up to the individual to decide whether he wants to risk losing that income for a shot at representing the Springboks at the World Cup in France,” Heymans said. “The rewards though are substantially higher. It is a calculated risk, but we know that if we are to win the World Cup our players need rest.”
This year has already seen an extra two Super 14 matches, while the Tri-Nations has also expanded by two more matches per team. The Tri-Nations ends on September 9 and the opening Test of the end-of-year tour is against Ireland on November 11. Ultimately the Boks will only miss Currie Cup matches in September and October – eight weeks’ rest from matches.
“England will have a massive 19 weeks off ahead of the World Cup, which is exactly what we need, but our problem is the players in this country are not centrally contracted,” explained Heymans.
In Australia, New Zealand and England, the national body controls the contracts of their senior players, while in SA, Springboks are contracted to their union, with an additional contract with SA Rugby. It makes the issue of taking players out of local competition that much more difficult.
“We certainly need central contracts, but a lot of time and effort will be required before that is sorted out. I’m confident though that we will achieve that objective. Sarpa’s relationship with SA Rugby is much better, so we are working towards a common goal now.”
By Andrew Hollely
35 Comments
12 May 2006, 16:08 pm
Player Dragons.
12 May 2006, 16:10 pm
Andrew – What has happpend to Chris?
12 May 2006, 16:13 pm
He left.
12 May 2006, 16:14 pm
If my boss asked me if I wanted to sit around doing nothing with full pay for part of the year I would also say yes.
12 May 2006, 16:16 pm
Loa,
Not full pay. They keep retainer and lose match fees and win bonuses.
12 May 2006, 16:18 pm
I don’t think they get full pay if they don’t play, but the financial rewards for winning the World Cup will be far greater than anything they’ll earn out of the CC, so I think they have taken the decision with that in mind.
12 May 2006, 16:20 pm
Andrew – I thought he wasn’t handling the vlak I always gave him.
12 May 2006, 16:20 pm
L of A
I agree, who wouldnt agree on those terms. If Jake White asks me tommorow if I would like to be 100% garuanteed of a place in the Bok squad, I dont have to play any rugby to proove myself and I must just hang out with the Boks and practise for the odd mil, I would gladly accept.
By putting their stamp of approval on it the players just made sure that they will stay with the Boks no matter how kak they play
12 May 2006, 16:22 pm
ok, so my boss says, do nothing for a part of the year. you can’t get a 13th cheque, but you still get your salary. still a good deal.
12 May 2006, 16:27 pm
I could be wrong, but I doubt they’ll be doing nothing. My understanding is that they’ll be preparing for a World Cup. From what I have been able to glean, they will be involved in various training regimes etc within the national set-up, but will not be required to play full contact rugby week in, week out in the Currie Cup.
12 May 2006, 16:39 pm
How is it that such things are achieved in New Zealand without all this carping? How come the local franchises in New Zealand work in concert with the National Coach? How come it all seems to go so smoothly?
Now it should be obvious why the Kiwis are so damn good and so damn consistent. They play their rugby intelligently and their rugby is run intelligently. Why would we expect our players to be smarter when our administration is so foolish?
12 May 2006, 16:40 pm
Don’t take everything so literally Vetkoek. They will go to the gym, get some shrink to talk to them, maybe have some strategy sessions and maybe a bit of touch. But in essence their job description is that of rugby player and they will not be playing rugby. maybe compare it to being a full time student at university and getting a salary. doesn’t that sound sweet?
12 May 2006, 16:42 pm
This reaction is astounding. The public calls for professionalism and for the top tier of players to be recognised. This is done, with a scheme to ensure that players are given rest periods and what happens? Squealing. Grow up kiddies.
12 May 2006, 16:44 pm
I’m not taking it too literally. Apologies I didn’t intend to come across that way although I can see how it may have seemed like it.
But I have to say that the practice/gym sessions etc were always alot more work than the playing of the game for me. I would never have relished the idea of doing nothing but prepare for a game or 6 for 2 months…
12 May 2006, 16:47 pm
L of A
How long have you been been playing professional rugby? I mean you really make it seem as if its a walk in the park….
How can you compare being a full time student to being a pro rugby player!!!!!!
12 May 2006, 16:51 pm
“They keep retainer and lost win bonuses” – cracker deal for all the cats players then.
12 May 2006, 16:52 pm
Playing a Super 14 game is like being in a car accident at 60km/hr!Thats the amount of stress that is put on the body! Imagine being in car accident 14 weeks in a row!!!!!Now do you get the picture as to why these guys need a rest? This is all part of professionalism, something the game of Rugby has struggled to embrace!!!!!
12 May 2006, 16:53 pm
If Jake had to expand his squad and develop a decent second squad we wouldnt need to rest players – we would just rotate them the same way the kiwis do.
12 May 2006, 16:53 pm
eh, mikey, to me a true measure of professionalism would be how team management manages resources on an ONGOING basis, not by crisis management, which seems to be the case here (please note how the crusaders handled mccaw). recognition comes from being awarded springbok colours and representing your country, not by sitting on your arse for 3 months. As a spectator I have an interest in this product that is being sold. i would like to see reasonable quality rugby when it is played. and believe me, this is all about entertainment and nothing more.
12 May 2006, 16:53 pm
Ja ruudboy, I was a pro boxer at one time and i was always trianing…
12 May 2006, 16:54 pm
ruud
reading your posts is like a car crash at 60km/h
cracker
12 May 2006, 16:56 pm
I think the cats players were not that concerned about giving up win bonusses anyway
12 May 2006, 16:56 pm
Vinnie,
what weight division?
12 May 2006, 16:58 pm
welterweight.
12 May 2006, 16:59 pm
So Ruudboy, I assume you have been in a car accident at 60km/h and played Super 14 Rugby. Which team did you play for?
12 May 2006, 17:03 pm
Any “ongoing basis” has to have a starting point. In this case, the Springbok management and the players union coming up with a plan that is benefical to the contracted Springbok players. If you want the Boks to perform, the players need (a) rest and (b) time to condition. You do *not* get into conditioning by playing week in and week out. A player like Big Joe *looses* muscle mass by playing at a high intensity for weeks on end without a break for conditioning.
This is called recognition of the country’s top players who have performed at international level now consistently for two years. It is called conditioning these players to meet the demands of the modern international game. It is called building the groundwork upon which future central contracts and conditioning programs can be built.
I fail to see why this is so difficult to graspand why there is so much pissing in the wind, except that those pissing obviously have a very warped idea of what it takes for the body not only to survive but prosper at international level *shrugs*
Good on you Jake, the players and Tim Noakes. Finally…
12 May 2006, 17:03 pm
Ruudboy, spot on. Anyone with common sense and an ounce of critical thinking ability would agree with you.
12 May 2006, 17:05 pm
mikeybrass
What is “critical thinking ability”?
12 May 2006, 17:09 pm
did tim noakes come up with critical thinking ability or jake white?
What a load of kak. If JW had to pick guys like Schalk Britz and Luke Watson who are obviously good enough then he could give guys like schalk and john smit a break to rest their critical thinking ability.
Same applies to ndongane, brent russel, ross skeate, andries bekker etc etc etc.
but yet even for small games we see the same starting line-up week in week out.
12 May 2006, 17:31 pm
what the hell did i miss with cracker man niknak?
after every post?!
12 May 2006, 17:45 pm
Critical thinking ability is what JW thinks is lacking in the SA rugby supporter.
JW had already picked his team before the S14.
A number of the players haven’t performed and JW is trying to avoid more criticism of them.
What better way to avoid the criticism of “So and so had a kak S14 and a kak CC and is now in the team (and still playing kak)”
vs.
“Well, so and so had a kak S14 but how was JW to know he was still going to be kak after a long lay-off?”
If players don’t get game time their performance deteriorates. No amount of training (note Mr. Noakes!) is a substitute for playing a competitive game.
Mr Noakes, it’s called ‘rustiness’ and it affects ALL sports persons. It’s well documented. Strange that JW and Noakes don’t know this – or do they and the excuses will start during the WC.
It’s the opposite to Camp Stallgrad and just as flawed.
If SARFU continue with this stupidity, the Boks will be out of the WC before getting into any other round.
12 May 2006, 20:02 pm
Andrew, you and Mr. Heymans should know that English players are not centrally contracted. There is no way they get 19 weeks off before the World Cup. They are touring South Africa next June ffs!
12 May 2006, 20:05 pm
Playing golf is much more fun than playing Currie Cup Rugby, especially if you’re paid huge sums of money for it.
12 May 2006, 20:36 pm
Mikeybrass on No. 26 has got it correct; but we need to get the contracts centralized.
John Cowper – Detroit
13 May 2006, 09:57 am
Pizza-nt
I think its a new version of Dragons,just his personal annoying addition every time he writes. i did remember a polly on the site and someone said ‘give him a cracker’ as they thought he was talking sh-t but we can only wonder ,or forget about it.
However for the unenlightened if there is something clever about it,educate us niknak.
Re Jake’s selections : I am beyond hoping for guys like SB,Watson and Botes etc…but my realistic hopes are that he drop MJ and J,Cronje. Then we’ll have 2 positions to add players aswell as all those spots to make up 45.
For me Watson or Botes instead of Cronje would be nice.
Somehow we know besides NOT picking Watson and Britz I also expect him to stick with Cronje.
He says these guys offer more than Watson cos theyre taller (lineout options) ,heck Watson has a fire under his arse like few others. Only JC could extinguish it with his trays of ice cold ‘he’s been so ineffective.
One thing though….White will get more out of his guys ,whoever they are,than the S14 coaches.
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