There are pros and cons

There is bound to be a massive outcry over Jake White’s decision to rest his top 20 players for the remaining matches of the Tri-Nations, but we will only really know whether the Springbok coach is right when the decisive matches in the World Cup arrive in October.

It is easy to understand why White has elected to leave the likes of Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, John Smit and BJ Botha behind. With the two top South African sides making the Super 14 semifinals and then final, it meant that this year the southern hemisphere tournament was particularly arduous, and the Boks went straight into their international programme without a break.

The past two months or so have been a hectic time for the top players, and White was not wrong when he suggested on Saturday night that fatigue was one of the main elements in the 26-21 defeat to the All Blacks. The Boks faded badly when the Kiwis upped the tempo in the last quarter.

And this fact is one of the reasons why criticism of White must be tempered. All Black coach Graham Henry was slammed by New Zealand-based critics when the return of his rested players did not make an impact in the second half of the Super 14.

He said at the time though that it was not so that they could peak in the Super 14 that they were rested. The decision to pull them out of the first eight games suddenly looked a far more sensible one at ABSA Stadium, with the All Blacks looking far better conditioned when it mattered.

Of course, there may have been other factors, other than fatigue, at work here. There is a theory in Durban that the Sharks conditioning team, for instance, is far better than the Springbok one, and the Sharks management have long been frustrated when players have returned from Springbok tours in far worse physical condition than when they left.

The enforced rest though will give the Bok management a chance to refresh the players, and there is no question that playing non-stop rugby for as long as they have was going to have a negative impact.

The squad selected for the away leg, although denuded of its top guns and most experienced players, still looks a strong one, with a number of players who can make a statement and perhaps force themselves into the equation for the World Cup.

In fact, if you think about it, the prospect of Bob Skinstad leading a group of players with nothing to lose and frothing at the mouth in the matches against New Zealand and Australia is an enticing one.

The question that White should answer, however, is why he chose the Tri-Nations as the time to rest his top players. Surely the time to blood the newcomers should have been the incoming tour matches against England and Samoa. Those came just after the Super 14, and it might have made sense for White to build towards his top squad after the Samoa game, which would have afforded his top men three weeks' rest.

One of the big downsides of the latest selection is that it does appear to send out the message to the opposition that White does not back his top players to win in New Zealand, and is thus shielding his players from a possible further psychological blow in the buildup to the World Cup.

But if the Boks doubt their ability to beat New Zealand in New Zealand, then they probably also have their doubts about beating the All Blacks on neutral territory in France.

What it all means is that the side that played against the All Blacks in Durban will not play again until the World Cup starts, with the next high-intensity test match the bulk of them will play being the key pool game against England in Paris on September 14.

Judging from the evidence provided in Durban, there are several areas where the Boks need to improve before then, and in which the newcomers can make a point.

The scrumming should be top of that list. A major weapon of all the South African teams in the Super 14, it has been woeful in all the early season tests with the exception of the one against lowly Samoa.

This is an aspect of the game that takes time to come together and time to work on, so there is a good argument in favour of keeping the scrum together for the next two matches, with Os du Randt in particular looking in need of an opportunity to build momentum. He has not played enough this year to warrant a rest.

Overall though the criticism of White should be tempered with the knowledge that what he is doing is no different to what France, England, Wales and Ireland did when they embarked on off-season overseas tours. Those nations decided their players needed a rest after a long season, and right now South Africa’s top players have had a much longer and more taxing season than the top All Blacks, who rested for the first two months.

Seeing that White did not take the opportunity to rest his players at the end of May and the beginning of June, he had little option but to do what he has done. It could prove a master-stroke, and the World Cup will provide the judgement.