Bok conditioning let Schalk down
22 Jun 2006
A conditioning and rehabilitation practitioner specialising in neck injuries believes the injury suffered by Schalk Burger was inevitable.
“Having treated many rugby players, I am aware of the signs,” the specialist, who preferred to remain anonymous, told keo.co.za. “I have noticed Schalk’s posture and the way his neck shakes when he runs on a rugby field. This shaking is caused by his overdominant trapezius and over-developed scalene muscles in the shoulder area. One big collision and he was bound to end up with such an injury.â€
The specialist elaborated on how a poor Bok conditioning programme could be responsible for such an injury, as it is not specific enough. Injuries like these are avoidable with the right training.
“I’ve practiced both in South Africa and overseas, and so have had the chance to work with plenty of rugby players and other sportspeople. From what I’ve heard from other leading experts in my field, England, Australia and New Zealand are light years ahead of us in terms of ensuring their players are conditioned properly.
“The difference between our players and theirs is that they are conditioned to be athletes, whereas our players are conditioned to be bodybuilders. Ours is the wrong kind of conditioning for a rugby player,†he said.
The specialist also agreed with the opinion that a neck fusion operation could do more harm than good to the 23-year-old Burger, whose career hangs in the balance.
“There are other ways to rehabilitate the injury Schalk has suffered. A spinal fusion can limit your neck movements by 50%, and how can you play rugby like that? It can hinder your movement and rotation of the head, which obviously limits your peripheral vision.
“My advice would be to stabilise the neck immediately. The next step would be a neck rehabilitation programme.â€
By Jon Cardinelli
70 Comments
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22 Jun 2006, 12:34 pm
I think you’re right Cab. The easiest way to gauge his value is to read the comments of opposition fans. On Silver fern they don’t want to see Burger injured and all wish him the best in recovering, but they freely admit that it will do more harm to Boks by not having Burger and increase the ABs chances of winning. Like I said, Burger is to the Boks what McCaw is to the ABs. Nigh on irreplaceable.
22 Jun 2006, 12:36 pm
very much so, both are nigh on irreplaceable.
slightly concerned about the French test this weekend, alot of big names out, interesting to see how Jake White and the boks approach the game.
22 Jun 2006, 12:40 pm
How many Dr.Annonimouse’s does Keo know?
22 Jun 2006, 12:50 pm
Lets have some faith in Jake, so tired of S.A fans always trying to blame someone.
22 Jun 2006, 12:54 pm
Well this is my favourite topic so I can’t hold back from having a say.
The views expressed in this article are not necessarliy 100% accurate but they prove that our conditioning experts are way behind when it comes to preparing athletes.
The conditioning guys need to work backwards from a match situation. In other words take a prop forward – how many times must he scrum in an international, how many times must he be involved in a ruck or maul situation, how many tackles should he make, etc. One you understand what is expected of him in a test, you can condition him accordingly.
The simple comaprison is to think about a swimmer who wants to make the finals of the 100 free style at the Olympics. He trains to achieve his goal and he certainly doesn’t train in the same way as the swimmer who wants to make the final of the 1500 free style event.
Although we hear that CJ can bench press 185 kg’s this is only one test of strength for an international athlete. Why don’t we hear about his agility (say a standing jump) or his speed (say a 30m dash). We also know nothing of his endurance and ability to maintain his strength. We also don’t train horses for courses. It seems that the backs and the forwards train in a similar fashion when in fact the requirements on match day are totally different. One only has to take Clyde rathbone as a good example. He left South Africa as a battered youngster and has emerged as a well conditioned international wing.
In my view Schalk was not a true open side flank and I think this conributed to hoem getting injured. If you look at most open side flankers in the world today, they are slightly shorter, with a low centre of gravity, pwerful legs and lower backs and great strength in the shoulders and arms. Schalk is taller than most of his opponents (Richie McCaw, George Smith, Phil Waugh, etc). The SA flank who is ideally built for this position is Luke Watson.
Joe Van Niekerk is nowhere near conditioned for the requirements of an open side flank. Jake is kidding himself if he thinks Joe will succeed as an openside flank in the Tri- Nations.
Sooly T, Roland Bernard and Hendro Scholtz are all better equiped physically for the role of openside flank.
Our love affair with size continues to be our downfall. Our players love to get big – at a scholl boy rugby game, you hear the parents and supporters saying things like look how big that kid is. The sooner our guys prepare themselves for the job at hand and not to be big and ripped the sooner we will avoid silly injuries and keep abreast with the world around us.
22 Jun 2006, 13:03 pm
Cab,
I read somewhere that JW is hoping it rains in Cape Town on Saturday because he feels the Boks have the edge up front. If this is true I think it gives you a fair idea on how the Boks will approach the game. The Boks will look to dominate up front, pin the French back in their own half through a decent kicking game and force mistakes in open play and utilise their prowess in the lineout. It’s a limited gameplan, but it is how the Boks have been playing for the last couple of years.
22 Jun 2006, 13:08 pm
Cab,
Only issue with that gameplan is what do the Boks do if Plan A fails?
22 Jun 2006, 13:09 pm
Stodders,
Yeah, i wonder if White is not playing the game a bit. Everyone expects that from the boks, but i think he’s been encouraging the backs to create, just have’nt got the right ball. Think the plan will be to keep it tight in the first half and try and open it up as the game progresses.
Personally, hope it doesn’t rain, the boks are much better suited to hard dry conditions that they are used to. Plenty of pace in that backline.
Think most would back your assesment, but i wonder if Mr White is planning a suprise.
22 Jun 2006, 13:14 pm
Having Barry at outside centre says to me that the Boks will be looking to contain the French rather than outplay them. Negative tactics. I wish JW would throw the shackles off and ask his players to go out and play positively. See if they can do it. What happens if they’re in a WC final and are 5 points down with 5 mins to go? You can’t ask players to throw caution to the wind and go on the offensive if they aren’t used to playing that way. SA have the talent…but they don’t necessarily have the confidence to change the gameplan.
22 Jun 2006, 13:19 pm
hey, outside center? i bloody well hope not, surely Barry at inside (i.e. our 12) and Olivier at outside (13).
Don’t think Barry and Olivier are as poor as everyone suggests. Barry is a fine 12 and besides look at that french midfield, some big runners, 10, 12 and 13 all hard-running centres. Barry will keep them honest. Think Olivier is a great prospect and 13 is his ideal position. A bit more space. But i have different views on centre play.
Think the inside channel is so congested in the modern game that its better to have a robust 12 that is able to offload in the tackle or go to ground and hopefully retain better ball for the next phase. 13 is the faster creative center.
22 Jun 2006, 13:26 pm
Maybe he is having us on Cab. But SA need to prove to themselves more than anyone else that they can do it in a test match. It’s no good doing it on the training pitch when the pressure is off.
As for not getting the right ball, sometimes it doesn’t happen in test matches. The ABs in the past and Oz now didn’t/don’t have always get parity in possession, but their strike rates are far better than the Boks. Why is that they are able to create chances when on the back foot through constructive play when the Boks only seem to do it through the mistakes of others, i.e. fumbles, interceptions? Don’t get me wrong, it’s just that what happens if a team plays a game which is mistake free. SA then need to create chances themselves.
22 Jun 2006, 13:34 pm
Cab, having a robust centre a #12 is only good if you know that:
a. He will break the advantage line
b. pass to #13
c. be able to offload in the tackle
d. tackle well
Barry is limited. He had one good international season in 2004, when he and Joubert combined well. But week in and week out he flatters to deceive at S14 level. Teams know how to play him and nullify him. They like seeing him on the teamsheet. It’s as simple as that.
Both Oz and NZ have creative 12s, Giteau and Mauger. Do you think it a coincidence that they tend to create more chances than most other teams?
As for the French, Jauzion at #12 has the perfect mix. He has power, pace, great handling skills and an amazing appreciation of the space around him. It’s not normal to find someone with all those attributes, so the french are lucky. he can also tackle.
22 Jun 2006, 13:48 pm
stodders, my 2 cents worth…
i take your point on the AB’s and aussies being able to develop things unbelievably well, but its also the type of platform their forwards produce (bear with me on the ozzies) in which they give their backs fast ball.
In the 3N series last year and on the NH tour, the aussie pack was decried as feeble and for good reason. However, its the set pieces, scrum in particular, where they were poor. After the 3N an extensive set of facts were published in SA rugby and it was very interesting to note that their ruck/maul stats and cleanouts were better than the aussies and the kiwis, alot better.
my theory is that it reveals how Oz are able to create these gaps and that much extra space for their very talented backs, despite looking weak in the set piece scrum.
The problem with the boks is that the ball they receive is static and the inside center (12) more often than not, is caught behind the advantage line. This is why i thought the hugely talented JdV would not make much difference to the boks when he was selected over DwB. Same went for WO when he played in the recent game, simply no attacking ball.
There is very little anyone can do in such a situation with the modern rush defense and oppo flankers. In short, good attacking backline moves normally start up front, where a certain type of platform needs to be created, quick ball.
Set piece ball or 1st phase ball is not great either, since defenses are organised, but if you’re able to retain it through multiple phases and go-forward quickly, you commit oppo players, get them on the back foot and throw their defensive structures off balance.
Kiwis and Aussies are masters of this and hence their open style. SA and France can also score great tries but there’s are invariably when the game becomes more unstructured.
22 Jun 2006, 13:56 pm
stodders
Giteau is an exceptional player that will create in every position on the pitch, but IMO he is even better suited to 13. Alternatively, with his boot and vision he should make a wonderful 10.
Mauger and Jauzion are physically robust players lacking massive acceleration. Jauzion in particularly is an archteypal inside center. Gibbs was also good, but the ultimate was Tim Horan. Short, squat and tremendous powerful in the tackle. Its the more talented, quicker player at 13 that does the damage in some space to work his magic, i.e. guscott (as opposed to the more robust carling at 12), horan/little, little/bunce. At center any bursty pace is good, since it asks questions of the oppo, but you probably want 13 to be quicker.
On Gitueau, interestingly Eddie Jones, thought Rathbone would be ideally suited to 12, hard straight runner, you can see the similarity to Horan.
22 Jun 2006, 13:57 pm
sorry post 63, the stats revelaed that the aussies were beater at the ruck/maul and cleanout than the kiwis and saffas.
22 Jun 2006, 14:05 pm
thanks for that Cab…i’ll have a read through now
22 Jun 2006, 14:11 pm
Must say, always wondered about the neck shaking business…
22 Jun 2006, 16:39 pm
im the conditioning specialist mentioned in te above article,just wanted to explain why i remained anonymous- i did not want to offend anyone related to the springbok camp,i actually did state in my interview that schalks problem was mainly due to the lack of cohesion between his training at provincial level and the boks, the boks had a great strength coach in mark steele, sadly he has resigned,i do not know why.i actually did warn a member of the coaching staff of potential injuries that icould pick up from a distance prior to last tri-nations,i predicted jeans groin injury,jaques fouries hamstring problem and schalks potential neck and maybe later shoulder concerns amongst a few other players, unfortunately i was not in a position to see if anything was done about it,i feel very sorry for schalk and was only using this forum to raise concern regarding his future,the sad thing for someone like me is that it is more financially secure for me to work with individuals,both athletes and the joe public than in a team environment in this country.i have spent the last few years looking wordwide at conditioning techniques and i can categorically state that our structures fall far short,especially with regard to fuctional,specific sports conditioning.i know for a fact that last year there were some springboks who had never done a squat or a deadlift in their life!i wish schalk all the best and hope he recieves the best advice available and comes back and kicks some serious ***
22 Jun 2006, 18:36 pm
fair enough kinetic, the thing is do we really have the money to do the cutting edge stuff that you feel is required?
it would be interesting if you could provide some examples of the conditioning programs elsewhere…
23 Jun 2006, 09:29 am
Kinetic,
Can you give us an example of a training programme you would put in place for front row forwards and locks?
I am interested to see what you would suggest as a programme for theses guys and I would also like some additional ideas some school sides.
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