The peril and pay-off of Toulon's heat for the Boks
SPOTLIGHT: Coach Jacques Nienaber was reluctant to share too much detail on the subject, but Toulon’s searing heat – as dangerous as it is – is also an ally for South Africa.
Last week in the Corsica training camp and this week during the build-up to South Africa’s opening match in defence of their World Cup title, the Springboks were training in searing Mediterranean temperatures – the high 20s (°C) and low 30s (°C).
It has been valuable in terms of ‘conditioning’ the players for the Round One face-off against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday – where the temperature is expected to be 29°C at kick-off.
The obvious pitfall is dehydration, with players losing as much as three kilograms in water during a single training session.
Although that is at the high end – with the more common fluid loss at one kilogram – the risk of serious harm is real.
Nienaber said the ‘dehydration rate’ differs, but it is something all teams monitor.
(WATCH as Jacques Nienaber speaks about the dangers of training in Toulon’s searing heat…)
“If you play United Championship matches in November and December [in South Africa] you play in this heat,” the Bok coach said after another day that saw his team practice in sweltering temperatures.
“We are in the Mediterranean and it is the end of summer now, and it is unexpectedly high temperatures.
“It is something you have to put your fingers on and our performance team is tracking that.”
The players are aware they must follow the guidelines from the performance team and nutritionist to ensure they stay hydrated.
If monitored and managed well, training in such challenging and arduous conditions has some obvious benefits.
As stated, it is conditioning players to cope with the rising body temperatures they can expect in the early rounds of the competition.
However, it will also put ‘fuel in the bank’ for when the temperatures start to plunge when the play-off rounds come along.
That is when the pay-off will come for the sacrifices the players made during the last two weeks of the build-up[ to the start of the tournament.
It will allow players to push themselves well beyond what they normally do, and at a time in the tournament when they really need it.
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