Rassie & Nienaber’s New Video: 8 Key Things You Need to Know

The Springboks have released a video that highlights a meeting between the Springbok management staff and SA Rugby personnel, giving a behind-the-scenes look at some of the discussions happening around the 2023 season.

The 23-minute video primarily focuses on the player welfare element of planning for 2023, specifically identifying how and when players involved in the Springboks will rest and recover ahead of the World Cup in France in September. There were some key takeaways for those who don’t want to sit through the entire video (because, well, we did):

Player welfare is key, especially given the changes

MyPlayers player welfare association CEO Eugene Henning highlighted the importance of player welfare, especially given the fact that South African franchises are now settling into playing European competitions, along with the additional stress of playing the Champions Cup or Challenge Cup.

New rest period

Due to the inclusion of South Africa’s franchises in the European leagues (notably the URC, Champions Cup, and Challenge Cup), this means that the Springbok players will often be playing over the December and January period, nullifying the usual Christmas rest period. The concern is that a key player for the Springboks and franchise side would end up having no rest; so a contingency plan has been made. Core Springbok players will rest during the Six Nations period, as the thinking is those European franchises (Premiership, French Top 14, etc) wouldn’t have their best, and therefore it’s a good chance for SA franchise teams to be without Bok stars, keeping it competitive and capitalising on the 8-week European Test season.

Positives of Northern Hemisphere involvement

In addition to the games being at more reasonable times for South Africans to watch (as opposed to some of the early Super Rugby times of yesteryear), there were some more positives identified of SA teams playing in Northern Hemisphere. Many of the best players in the world are bundled together in these leagues, which is further testing and bringing out the best of South Africa’s talent in different teams and conditions around the world. For example, Rassie Erasmus highlighted that when the Harlequins played the Sharks in the recent Champions Cup game, there were 19 South African players available for selection across both teams, showcasing the depth available.

Workload management

With Super Rugby, South African players would only ever play 18 games (at most), then 12 Test (if regular starters/bench players). This would only ever push players towards the 32 max games a year per player limit as imposed by World Rugby. With the new European leagues, there are significantly more matches, therefore it’s recommended that key Springbok players play 20 matches for their franchise (if needed), allowing for 12 opportunities to play for the Springboks per season.

Individualising rest and recovery

While Erasmus, Nienaber and Andy Edwards (head of athletic performance) highlighted the importance of keeping to a rest and recovery structure, there was a note that rest needs to be individualised. Taking into account injuries, rehab, and other factories should determine the workload on a player.

Making rational calls

Rassie emphasised the need to rely on the science of sports recovery and get the players to buy into the idea of following resting protocols, so they’re at their best when they do play. Even if a player feels great and thinks he has another game in him before the rest period, he must follow the plan. “We can’t make decisions based on emotion”, said Erasmus.

Keeping tabs on potential World Cup players

Nienaber has confirmed that there are 45 players being assessed for World Cup squad selection. Due to the fact that only 33 players can go to the World Cup, road-mapping players in case of injuries is important too.

European leagues helping with SA rugby’s budget plans

While it’s not the most important feature of being a part of the European league, it was noted that the financial element has helped SA Rugby tremendously. The Springbok management acknowledged that there are financial constraints with South African rugby, so what SA can develop here, it will be done; but having some players signed with international clubs helps a lot, as it alleviates the SA Rugby player bill. Furthermore, players also develop their own IP (learning skills, styles, and knowledge in other rugby nations) and bring it back to SA, adding a lot of value to the player pool available for Springbok selection.

You can check out the full video below: