A few weeks ago I mentioned the Springboks will have a nightmare 2010 season but little did I know it will start in 2009 already.
The statement was not made because I am clairvoyant, if I was, this will be my last ever column as it is Lotto Wednesday today.
The assumption was made on the back of repeated warnings, backed up by some solid facts and examples from the likes of Professor Tim Noakes.
Now I probably posess about 5% of the knowledge of experts like Prof. Noakes, but given what he has been saying all year long now (and for years before that) and what I personally experienced I can only wonder how long it will take, or how many times we will continue to make the same mistakes, before we take guys like Prof. Noakes and his advice seriously?
When I attended the Currie Cup semi-final at Newlands I made a point of reporting how knackered Victor Matfield looked not only in the game, but how utterly exhausted he looked when he sat in the post-match press conference where in my mind, he simply went through the motions answering questions in mechanical-like responses with some of the oldest clichés around in world rugby.
The magic of 2009 and what the Springboks achieved this year is quickly turning into a bit of nightmare for Peter de Villiers and his management team.
Players are breaking down left, right and centre and none of the stars of the 2009 season look anywhere close to on top of their game.
Is it a surprise that some of the very few stars of this end-of-year tour can be counted on one hand? And that none of them will include names like John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Fourie du Preez and the guys that took Springbok rugby to new heights in 2009? Well not when you consider the warnings that were sounded well before the Boks went on tour.
We are blaming the failures of this current tour on everything from player selection to poor tactics, where in fact this has very little to do with the actual cause of the problem and that is how we manage our top professional rugby players.
De Villiers has a point in where he says that the top players must be rested in our domestic competitions and not on tours, but in my opinion he is farting against thunder and complaining about something that has been an issue for years in South African rugby – union before country – and I cannot see SA Rugby wrestling the power away from unions very soon.
The point here is very simple, if we are to believe rugby is a professional sport today we need to treat our players, our assets, professionally – and that means we must ensure they are at optimal levels of conditioning whenever they take the field at the highest level of the game, test match rugby.
For now, expect advice from guys like Prof. Noakes to continue to fall on deaf ears and prepare yourself for another dip in Springbok rugby after such a great high.
In the meantime, has anyone got an idea of what the winning Lotto numbers will be tonight because I think I have a better chance of winning that than witnessing a change in scenery on the rugby front…
Morne
Hoe bedoel jy dat die AllBlacks anders oefen as ons? En speel actual game time nie ‘n belangriker rol as oefen nie? Is fiksheid maar nie die belangrikste aspek van oefen vir toets spanne nie?
KP,
Een van die beste maniere wat ek hoe hulle oefen kan beskryf is dat dit goal-driven is.
Each aspect of their training is not only specific to position but ultimately goal-driven too. I have used the tackling drill before (which I got from NZ training methods BTW) and will use it again as an example.
The drill (tackling bags or players in protective kit) is not only to practice tackling, but also the technical aspect of tackling (body position, point of hit, position of arms, legs, drive, etc) including different types of tackles, relating to where in the field you defend (i.e. channel 1 through to 5).
Some people have identified 5 different types of tackles, all with their own set criteria for either being effective or not, meaning that even if you bring a player down it will not necessarily constitute in an effective tackle but in team or analysed statistics could well be classed as a missed or slipped tackle, i.e. negative result because you did not execute the tackle effectively!
The goal-driven part (something which is seriously lacking in SA coaching) is for instance that the purpose of a tackle is not just to bring a player down, but to either tackle him back, or disposses him, or slow the ball down (depending on the type of tackle).
Through this you can imagine that certain players will make 90% of their tackles in a specific area thanks to their position, for instance props will make 90% of their tackles in channel 1 meaning their primary tackle technique will be tackle A and not tackle-type E (which for arguments sake is 90% of the type of tackle a wing would make).
All this is identified and specific tackle technique drills are developed in accordance to this.
When I assisted in coaching tackle technique I would for instance not do it where both props and the wings are involved in the same session.
The drills therefore is compact, high impact and short, focussing on specifics rather than covering the broad (just tackle the kak out of the bag drill) tackling subject.
And this is just one area, just about all coaching techniques and methods are like this which is very different from what I experienced in SA.
Don’t even let me go into the complexities of fitness coaching and how detailed that is!!!
ok, just a quick observation … everyone (i think) agree that the biggest problem the boks are faced with at the moment, is fatigued players thats on the tour that should never have toured, especially after the season we’ve had.
think pdv also mentioned that he tried talking a few of the guys out of touring, but that the players believed that they still had enough gas in the tank to get through this tour.
now
what wouldve happened had pdv decided to leave his most senior players at home despite them feeling that they would be ok?
would we still be talking fatigue
or
would most of the discussions have been about loss of momentum?
Hey Ash, of course the guys want to play rugby every week, they are rugby players not sport scientists, it should not be their call if they go on tour or not.
If they lost without the fatigued players on tour, at least it gave some new guys experience, and it was not at the cost of some key players.
Over-training is not a myth.
It can be compared to regular work. Work too much and too hard troughout the year and December can`t arrive too quickly. You get gatvol and perform weaker.
December arrive and you go on that holiday.Bliss, but why do you feel you need a holiday after the Holiday?
Now imagine being a Springbok.
Excellent posts in relation to a subject that attracts a diversity of opinion. However, it’s difficult to argue against Tim Oakes’ science-based approach, as his detail is extraordinary and totally believable.
Sports science assists our players to achieve their own goals, whilst ensuring that, after retirement, the player can still walk and lead a productive, pain-free life.
I believe rugby players, as individuals, are unique, given the toll on a front-rower as compared to a winger, so the system needs to take that into consideration – wingers have shorter careers, because we all know what goes first when it comes to strength as opposed to speed.
The modern-day collision, or high impact part of the game is surely untested, in terms of long term effect on the body, at this point in time, because the hits have never been bigger. The system needs to have the flexibility to analyse individuals, not the group.
Just to finish up this discussion (at least for the time being), Coach Nic Mallett had this to say in the Cape Times of Thursday 19th November 2009. It refers to the points I made earlier about what I suspect would be his opinion after the lessons he learned in 1998/9. I quote:
“South Africa has had such a good year this year. That will be very, very hard to replicate. There is a bit of wear and tear there already showing, and the question is, will players like Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha last? Has John Smit really got another two years left at this level? It is a brutal, brutal schedule. In truth you can’t look ahead further than the next game these days, never mind all the way ahead to 2011. That seems so far off. All I can say is, if this particular group of South African players keep fit and get through together to the next World Cup under John Smit, who is a hugely respected person, they will definitely be the biggest challengers to New Zealand”.
He then acknowledges that the Boks have eight or nine of the best players in the world in their positions and concludes by saying: “When these guys are playing at their best, they are the only side that can really physically dominate a team like New Zealand, who are a great attacking side. POWER IS THE DIFFERENCE (my emphasis). When you look at the way South Africa play, they have huge athletic forwards and strong, powerful backs with real pace. That is some combination”.
Overplaying and a lack of proper rest affects the players ability to produce the power that they need to dominate the best teams in the world like New Zealand. Then it introduces the risk of injury etc.
I think Coach Mallett’s opinion seems to support what I have been trying to say for the past 10 or so years.
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