Bok fitness test against Japan

THE computers are telling the Springbok coaching staff that their players comprise the fittest South Af r i c a n rugby team ever, but, as always, the battlefield will tell the real story. “We have worked unbelievably hard on an area that we thought needed improving (compared with the All Blacks), and all the testing shows the conditioning levels have increased dramatically,” assistant coach John McFarland said yesterday.

“We started seeing the results in the Rugby Championship, but in the past five weeks of outright conditioning (with no games) we have seen big improvements.”

McFarland, a defence expert once with the Bulls under Heyneke Meyer and now with the Boks, says a good indication of fitness levels is the speed with which players recover from a first tackle to get in position to make a second, a third, and so on.

The inference is that the fitter you are, the harder it is for the opposition to score.

It is why the All Blacks concede so few tries.

“The ability to make ‘second efforts’ on defence is all about conditioning,” McFarland said.

“If you are in good shape, you get up quicker, get back in position quicker and are more confident to make the tackle. We were markedly better in that area in the second game against the Pumas, and have had a substantial period of conditioning since then.”

That fitness will be examined against Japan, who traditionally play a fast-paced running game to negate their physical inferiority.

“That has been true over the decades, but it has changed a bit in recent years,” McFarland said.

“They are getting bigger at forward and have a number of Super Rugby players (who have been naturalised) and make a difference. Plus their coach, Eddie Jones, is one of the best in the business, having coached Australia to a World Cup final and assisted Jake White in the 2007 Bok success.”

McFarland says it is a misconception that the Japanese still avoid contact.

“Under Eddie, they are learning to keep the ball, and while they have made errors and turnovers have cost them tries, they are trying to play a game that can give their speedy backs a better chance to attack.”