RUNNING ON EMPTY
SA sides must be fit enough for battle against New Zealand teams in the final quarter
SOUTH Africa’s first date with the All Blacks may be four months away, but judging from results against New Zealand teams, 2017 could feel like Groundhog Day at test level.
While the Sharks, Lions and Southern Kings received the kind Australian draw, the Bulls, Cheetahs and Stormers have been repeatedly exposed for an inability to live with their New Zealand counterparts in the last 20 minutes.
The only time this season a South African side did not concede in the last quarter was when the Stormers beat the Chiefs 34-26 on April 8. Last year the conditioning malfeasance was evident with the Springboks when the All Blacks cleaned them out at Kings Park.
Former Springboks and Sharks conditioning coach Mark Steele said it was too soon to expect the South African teams to catch up to New Zealand sides.
“There are two things letting us down in South Africa: high intensity and skills. Because we’re not measuring and don’t know how to measure training sessions, we’re stumbling around in the dark. Our skill levels aren’t being measured and because sessions are at 60%/70% intensity, that’s the same level our skill gets to. When intensity levels are low, skill levels are low. New Zealand coaches are far more aware of measuring intensity and the conditioning aspect. They know how to optimise training sessions because that’s how they want things to be on game day,” Steele said.
“SA Rugby needs to take accountability because they are the bastions of rugby and they should have these guidelines in place in terms of uniformity when it comes to conditioning. I have a feeling that none of the Super Rugby teams are being measured in terms of conditioning.”
Springboks conditioning coach Warren Adams did not respond to e-mailed questions.
Embattled Bulls coach Nollis Marais admitted his team’s conditioning is not up to scratch. Though their whiteout against the
There are certain things we can improve on but you can’t master them immediately. Conditioning isn’t about running around
Crusaders was a done deal after an hour, when they trailed 50-10, in their losses to the Chiefs and the Bulls in New Zealand, their legs gave in when they were in with a shout.
“There are building blocks you can put in place but you’re not going to get it right immediately. Conditioning is about taking the gym to the field and people have a misconception of what conditioning is. It’s also about putting a puzzle together and that’s what the New Zealand teams do,” Marais said.
“I spoke to Scott Robertson last week and there are certain things we can improve on but you can’t master them immediately. Conditioning isn’t about running around.”
Former Springbok and Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer said fitness problems of South African teams had not changed since his tenure.
He said the issue of not receiving fitness reports from the franchises hampered his preparation and hopes this has changed under Allister Coetzee’s stewardship.
“Fitness is more important than skills because with 20 minutes left and you’re tired, there’s no way you’re going to be able to do skills. I read about people talking about pressing hard but you can’t press when you’re tired. When the Bulls lost consecutive semifinals I took the fitness reports of the teams and told them if they don’t get to those standards, they’re not going to be picked. You can’t scrum or drive when you’re tired,” Meyer said.
“Fitness reports have to be sent to the national team coach to know where players are in terms of fitness. In New Zealand coaches make sure they’re up to date with players.”
South African Olympic rowing coach Roger Barrow was loath to draw comparisons with rugby and his area of expertise, but said conditioning was the difference between champions and has-beens.
“With all things in sport, fitness is an easy thing to control and it’s easy to train but the fitter you are, the longer you’re going to last, especially if you’re conditioned well. It’s like having a Ferrari and using Vaseline for fuel,” Barrow said.