Player management: Give it a rest
Player management was always going to be a key area of concern in the extended Super Rugby season this year, but the jury is still out on what the best approach to keeping the key performers fresh is.
Rugby is a highly physical contact sport and unfortunate injuries are bound to occur, but the concerns this year – a World Cup one to boot – have centred on player fatigue and long-term wear and tear which has the potential to shorten players’ careers considerably.
A seemingly sound solution is to have as much depth as possible and to rotate your players throughout the season, however this is not always practical and with so much pressure on Super Rugby franchises to produce results it is not surprising that some teams are trying to get last-minute imports cleared to play.
Stormers backline coach Robbie Fleck told rugby365.com that he felt that the Cape franchise could have done better with their player management this year.
He explained: “During the year we maybe could have rotated a little bit more in terms of the management of the players. (But) one or two losses affected our player management a bit.”
Fleck said that the Stormers were keen to give some players a rest in the middle of the season, but the loss to the Crusaders at Newlands in May had put paid to those plans as the team from Cape Town focused on immediately getting back to winning ways by fielding their strongest possible team.
“At crucial stages we lost games whereas, for example, if we had won the Crusaders game we could have rested a couple of guys against the Chiefs the next week,” he said.
“But we were under pressure in that Chiefs game and if we had won that one then we could have rested some more but we didn’t, so it hasn’t been perfect but it has turned out alright.
“We have been able to get through the injuries and we have pretty much got a full strength team to select from next week, apart from Duane Vermeulen,” he pointed out.
The Stormers have a large squad with plenty of quality on their bench, but the issue takes on a different complexion when you consider the plight of teams like the Highlanders and the Cheetahs.
Both of these teams were competitive at times this season, but neither have an incredible amount of depth which meant that their top players were expected to turn out and give their all – each and every week.
All Blacks Jamie Mackintosh and Adam Thomson were standout performers in the opening weeks of the competition this year but became more anonymous as the play-offs approached and the Highlanders’ season ended in a relative whimper.
To be fair, just about every team in the competition has been affected by injury this season and how they have been able to deal with and cover for those injuries has been vital to their fortunes, but it is difficult to point to a single team that has a set rotational policy… with the possible exception of the Bulls’ hookers Chilliboy Ralepelle and Gary Botha.
The ‘rotation’ of John Smit and Bismarck du Plessis at the Sharks and Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw at the Bulls have been influenced by injuries and form rather than a set plan, which is an option which Fleck believes that Super Rugby teams should be considering.
He said: “If you look at the way that Brendan Venter managed the guys up at [English Premiership winners] Saracens, he had an approach where every player knew that they would have three weeks on and two weeks off or whatever the case may be.
“That is how he managed them because the Premiership is a helluva long season and they play three different competitions at one time. I think we can probably learn from the likes of him because of the amount of rugby that they play in Europe,” added Fleck.
As the World Cup gets nearer all eyes will be trained on the injury list as the loss of a Dan Carter, Will Genia or Victor Matfield – to name just three – could prove catastrophic.
Although there is apparently some communication between franchise bosses and national coaching staff – as evidenced by the conservative management of a player like Richie McCaw – there does not seem to be a set plan regarding player rotation which could have serious consequences further down the line, with the 2011 season nowhere near completion.
By Michael de Vries
