GAVIN RICH: Nonstop treadmill undermines spectacle through injuries

When the “house full” signs went up at the Cape Town Stadium at the weekend it was an endorsement of the appetite the SA rugby public has for big derby games and proof the interest in the professional game goes beyond the Springboks.

It was the second time in as many United Rugby Championship derbies that the Stormers played in front of a packed house. The coastal derby against the Sharks was also a sell-out, and just to prove it is not just a Cape Town thing, the smart money should be on Loftus being full to capacity, or thereabouts, when the return north/south game between the Bulls and Stormers is played there on March 1.

For those who work in rugby who would like to have the height of the festive season off to focus on their families, the turnout sent out an important message. The previous two Stormers-Bulls derbies in Cape Town were played in the Christmas week, and crowds of 35,000-39,000 were seen by the organisers as proof that “Christmas rugby” can be popular in SA.

But there were 10,000 more people at this game in February, thus proving the point that it was never Christmas rugby that sold, but the Stormers playing the Bulls.

If derbies are not going to make the franchises more money when playing at Christmas compared with in February, it would make sense for there to be a proper break for all SA players from mid-December to the second weekend of January.

Which is not to suggest that the mooted break serve as an off-season of any sort. Local players need a proper off season, meaning a break of at least eight weeks, and those eight weeks need to be taken once off rather than in short separate bursts of a few weeks at a time. For while there was plenty to be positive about in the Cape Town derby, the 12-month treadmill that the players are on is undermining the product.

For instance, another derby is scheduled for this weekend when the Sharks go to Loftus, but Sharks coach John Plumtree has given his top players the month off. So he’s likely to send an understrength team to Pretoria. Derbies sell, and Bulls versus Sharks should be huge, but you can’t blame Plumtree, who reminded us before New Year that players aren’t robots. He has several Boks on his books and they do need to get a proper window of rest.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White backed up Plumtree’s views after the latest derby, saying the system is unsustainable. The Bulls never had as many key players out as the Stormers did, but several big names were still missing, and it became worse when Cobus Wiese was helped from the field.

“Every week you get an update on every team and their injuries and it is clear playing 12 months a year is coming at a cost,” said White.

“It’s not sustainable. We work on the basis of losing one-and-a-half players every game. When I say one-and-a-half, I’m talking about one guy who can have a two-week injury or an HIA [head injury assessment]. You can work on the basis of one being ruled out for a while and one is out with HIA, which means he needs a 12-day mandatory time off. Playing 12 months a year, with every team having one-and-a-half guys injured, puts a huge strain on resources as it all just adds up.”

Given the revolving door nature of injuries and returns to fitness you have to wonder if we will ever see the top teams clash when anywhere near full strength. While the north-south derby was a memorable occasion for all who were there, you could have picked a very strong combined team made up of players from both sides who were out injured.

Working on White’s assumption that you have a player-and-a-half out for every game, the players out now through injury will return while currently fit players are ruled out. It is a vicious circle, and that the top local franchise coaches — White, Plumtree and John Dobson — have all spoken of the 12-month season as a contributing factor to their respective injury crisis’ raises flags of concern that cannot be ignored.

White admits he doesn’t have the solution but an obvious start would be to ensure there is a distinct off-season in which no rugby is played.

Regarding the Rugby Championship, which the Boks are committed to in August and September and is the heart of the problem, it might be tricky to get right (though sooner or later a rescheduling will be necessary), but it should be easy to reschedule the Currie Cup to run concurrently with the United Rugby Championship so that it doesn’t overlap with the off-season.