Rugby
Noakes calls for Boks to rest
2009-03-09 07:57
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Brenden Nel - Sondag
Cape Town - Top South African sports scientist Dr Tim Noakes believes the Springboks could pay a dear price for the Super 14 sides refusal to give national players a rest during the off-season.
Noakes has predicted that a number of top Springboks may not make the British and Irish Lions series as they will break down before then. The head of South Africa’s Institute for Sports Science was a driving force behind Jake White’s World Cup success and persuaded SA Rugby to rest the Boks for long periods before the World Cup in 2007, with the Boks winning the trophy. But Noakes told Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag the writing is on the wall for the Boks.
“I don’t want to predict anything, but there are two definite differences between the way the South African Super 14 sides have rested their players,” Noakes told Sondag.
Noakes said that players needed at least six to eight weeks rest between seasons, and only the Sharks had given their players six weeks off. According to Noakes the Stormers gave Boks Jean de Villiers and Conrad Jantjes only two weeks off in. The Bulls did a similar thing with their players.
“If players don’t get at least six to eight weeks rest for two consecutive years, they have the danger of being injured because their bodies cant take it.”
Noakes believes the Springboks could lose several players before the Lions series because of this.
“What we have here is a natural experiment. You have one team that has rested their Boks and two teams that didn’t. At the end of the Super 14 season we will see who has the better outcome of this experiment,” Noakes told Sondag.
The Boks face the Lions in a three Test series in June.
