Victory for provinces could backfire

It appears Springbok coach Jake White is not going to get his way on his request to have 10 key players rested during the Currie Cup season.

White was making conciliatory noises after his latest round of meetings with the provinces who are defying his request, among them an acknowledgement that he had now got to understand the point of view of the unions as it has been explained to him that the players are contractually obligated to play Currie Cup rugby.

I would have thought that should have been obvious. It was why you would have imagined that moves to rest the players should have been put in motion several months ago, rather than in the week after the return from the Tri-Nations.

What is difficult to figure out surrounding this latest controversy is how it became a controversy at all. White started to talk about resting players straight after the Twickenham defeat to England last year. Earlier this year Professor Tim Noakes disclosed to me findings of a study he was doing for White. So why did we wait for September for a decision?

Readers can probably guess at the reasons, and they would probably be right. No prizes to those who reckon it might have something to do with a communication breakdown somewhere.

There was definitely a breakdown of sorts when the offices of SA Rugby sent out what was a thinly veiled ultimatum directing provinces not to select the players or they would be ruled out of the end of year tour. If the provinces defied the order, which they have done, then where was White going to get his Springbok players for the end of year tour?

It has been argued in some quarters that maybe the players should be resting in November, and not while the Currie Cup is on. Those who take this line reckon White would be well served to have a look at his backup talent and do some experimenting.

But to say this is to fail to understand what the end of year tour should really be about, which is to allow the top rank of players an opportunity to get used to northern hemisphere conditions and to build confidence by winning important games that side of the equator.

This is crucial as the next World Cup is in France, and France just happens to be the place where the Boks sign off their year. This is a gilt-edged opportunity to make some very significant strides forward towards the main goal, which is to win the World Cup in 2007.

So for White to rest key players at the end of year would not be ideal. It would be better for those players to rest up now.

Of course, you cannot blame the provinces for wanting the players they pay so handsomely to repay them with some time on the field.

But let’s hope that everyone is sensible about this. Playing a Bok flat-out for the next eight weeks is not going to help White’s cause, and neither is it going to help the cause of that province when it comes to next year’s Super 12.

Fatigue was one of the things thrown around as an excuse for the Stormers’ poor performances in the most recent edition of the Super 12. The Stormers, as the team to go through to the 2004 Super 12 semi-final, provided by far the most Boks last year, and many of the men expected to star for the Stormers this February, March, April and May were just too jaded after playing almost non-stop since the start of last year.

This is going to be an even bigger problem again next year if the provinces don’t get it right and at least partially grant White his request. At least at the start of last year the Boks had enjoyed a fairly extended break due to the early finish of the World Cup in 2003, which gave them the whole of November and December off.

Since then though it has been a fairly continuous slog, and everyone involved with South African rugby would do well to recall that it was a wretched slew of injuries, rather than anything related to rugby brain and ability, that saw Australia bomb out so spectacularly this season.