The expanded Super rugby competition, particularly its emphasis on bone-crushing derby matches, holds peril Springbok coach Peter de Villiers admits may keep him up at night.

De Villiers is concerned the proliferation of derby matches, contests in which SA teams frenziedly knock lumps out of each other, could take a physical and mental toll on the players with whom he is hoping to defend the World Cup in September.

“I am worried. You are going to have the local teams playing each other home and away in high-intensity clashes. It is the South African way to try to be better than the guy in the street as opposed to the guy from overseas. Our rivalry is different.

“It worries me because the guys are going to get involved in intense competition and they are also going to be drained psychologically,” said De Villiers.

His concern is, however, tempered by the fact that the players are said to be in better shape than at any other time at the start of the season on his watch.

“For the first time, the conditioning is the same for the players across all five franchises. That puts them in a much better place because we won’t have to expose them to more conditioning.”

That said, the extreme demands Super rugby is likely to place on players requires them to occasionally put their feet up.

“I had a meeting with the coaches because we need to manage certain players differently.

“We have to rely on the integrity of the Super rugby franchises. Some have no sponsor so one would not want to short change them, but the coaches know what is expected.”

On that score, some will remind De Villiers to “practise as you preach” when he selects his squad for the watered down Tri-Nations later this year.

“We have an agreement to play the best players. Of course, that is a relative term. Everybody’s interpretation won’t be the same,” De Villiers reminded.

Although they were cleared of wrongdoing, the doping allegations against Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson have highlighted the vulnerability of players in their perhaps over-reliance on supplements.

De Villiers called for uniformity in the setting of guidelines for supplement use.

“The franchises have to decide what works and then adopt a uniform approach. The players now believe in them (supplements) but we need to get the medics like professor (Tim) Noakes involved so that we can formulate guidelines.

“If a player decides to go outside those guidelines, it will be his own responsibility,” De Villiers warned.

What is clear is that the coach will back the players who have formed the core of his squad since he took charge in 2008.

De Villiers this week reinforced his reservations about the standard of play in the northern hemisphere and bar perhaps one or two exceptions, is likely to assemble his squad from locally based players.

“The speed at which the game is played in the southern hemisphere is a lot faster than they’re used to in the northern hemisphere. It will be a difficult fit to have northern hemisphere players (play with south hemisphere players).

“That is important for us.”

De Villiers, who it has frequently been suggested is not on the same hymn sheet as his assistant coaches in deciding on a default game plan for the Springboks, believes the relative strengths and weaknesses of the men at their disposal is the determining factor.

“The personnel will determine the game plan,” De Villiers said, although that statement is open to wider interpretation.

“If we stick to the principles of the game plan they’ll be hard to unseat. No places are cemented in the side but the first 15 have proven themselves.”

Typically, he went left field in underlining his point. “You don’t go to war in a canoe and mount a cannon on it. We’ll go with the heavy guns.”

Article by LIAM DEL CARME, Times Live