VIDEO: Boks' secret to team alignment
Gone are the days in South Africa where the national side is solely selected on players plying their trade on home soil.
While other nations such as England, New Zealand and to an extent Australia have a policy of not selecting players who earn their salaries offshore, the Springboks embraced the option of selecting players irrespective of where they play in the world.
According to World Rugby’s Regulation Nine, players are allowed to be selected during the international window to represent their nation, and the Springboks reaped the rewards of doing just that.
The article continues below…
Following the abandonment of the 30-cap rule for overseas-based players, we have coach Rassie Erasmus select the likes of Jean Kleyn, Cheslin Kolbe, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Rynhardt Elstadt, Jasper Wiese, and most recently Marnus van der Merwe whilst playing abroad.
This provided the Boks with a bigger selection pool, and it is no coincidence that winning two Rugby Championships, two World Cups, and a British and Irish Lions series contributed to the cause.
One issue that can arise with this approach is that not all players will be on par in terms of match fitness, sharpness and training intensity, as there are different standards from all competitions, for instance, the Japan Rugby League One compared to the United Rugby Championship.
Prop Thomas du Toit revealed the approach the Boks take to nullify any fitness and alignment issues that players who join the national camp from abroad might have.
The article continues below…
“Most of our camps we have on the Highveld, so we try and nullify that as much as we can,” Du Toit said.
“Based on our conditioning and what Andy [Edwards] prescribes during the week, we get enough load and work done at altitude for that not to be a huge factor.
“We get enough preparation for that to not be an issue.”
