SARU won't enforce 'player rest'

Super Rugby teams will not be forced to rest key Springboks, despite a 'request' from the South African Rugby Union to do so ahead of the World Cup.

There has been some confusion as to exactly what the 'agreement' is between the Super Rugby franchises and SARU over the management and rest of key Boks in the build-up to the global showpiece in September and October.

In a media release SARU explained what was agreed upon at the meeting between the national body's CEO, Jurie Roux, Bok coach Heyneke Meyer, the various franchise CEOs and coaching representatives.

* Two principles were identified as being ideal:

i) That players should not play more than five consecutive weeks.

ii) That certain Springbok players should have a number of weeks of rest during the tournament (two to four weeks depending on each player's personal needs and position and the franchise's playing resources). Bye weeks are not considered as a rest week (although they do trigger a restart of the count of consecutive weeks), while injury weeks are 'invisible' (i.e. a player injured for two weeks during the first seven weeks of the tournament would be regarded as having played five consecutive weeks at the end of week seven).

SARU made it clear the 'understanding' is not legally binding.

"The players are primarily the assets of the unions and they will have their different dynamics and needs at different stages of the season," SARU CEO Jurie Roux said.

"We worked towards the understanding to prioritise Springbok readiness for the international season and the World Cup but we realise it is a balancing act for coaches in terms of juggling their union's needs and the national interest.

"The important thing for SARU was to take the initiative to try and find a solution to questions relating to player workload.

"If we get 90 percent compliance during the season it will be a 100 percent improvement on where we were a year ago when no player could expect any break.

"If franchises feel they are unable to stick to the letter of the understanding that is less than ideal, but we would expect them to stick as close to it as possible in the interests of the Springboks."

@bokrugby