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Johannesburg and Pretoria – South African Rugby Union (SARU) chief executive Jurie Roux has expressed his concern about the number of derby matches in Super Rugby.
“It’s going to be brutal,” he warned on Tuesday at the tournament’s launch at Vodaworld, home of Super Rugby sponsors Vodacom.
The view was expressed that the intensity of the matches would be higher and that resultant injuries to key players could impact on their participation in the World Cup. However, the players are not entertaining the thought of holding back in World Cup year.
“You can’t run onto the field with that attitude,” said the Bulls’ Springbok loosehead prop Gurthrö Steenkamp.
“It’s too early to think about the World Cup and to want to save yourself for that. We’ll take it week by week. Your focus is just the next match.”
Roux believes that teams will have to be managed better because of the higher intensity of the tournament and that the rotation of players and squad depth will have an important role to play.
“Everybody is very excited about the new tournament format and it’s going to generate a lot of interest. Derby matches are always well supported and from that perspective I’m expecting bigger interest in the tournament,” he said.
In South Africa, a lot is expected from last year’s finalists, the Bulls and Stormers. The Sharks’ Currie Cup title win in 2010 and the Cheetahs’ success against local sides should count in their favour.
Bulls’ coach Frans Ludeke believes that the high expectations of the Lions may ease some of the pressure on the other South African teams.
“It will definitely take the pressure off us (the Bulls won the title in 2010) for our match against the Lions next week because they will be favourites as things stand now,” said Ludeke.
The Lions have a new Super Rugby coach in John Mitchell, and they have made a few star player acquisitions.
The Lions beat the Sharks 41-10 in a warm-up game last week.
Johannesburg and Pretoria – South African Rugby Union (SARU) chief executive Jurie Roux has expressed his concern about the number of derby matches in Super Rugby.
“It’s going to be brutal,” he warned on Tuesday at the tournament’s launch at Vodaworld, home of Super Rugby sponsors Vodacom.
The view was expressed that the intensity of the matches would be higher and that resultant injuries to key players could impact on their participation in the World Cup. However, the players are not entertaining the thought of holding back in World Cup year.
“You can’t run onto the field with that attitude,” said the Bulls’ Springbok loosehead prop Gurthrö Steenkamp.
“It’s too early to think about the World Cup and to want to save yourself for that. We’ll take it week by week. Your focus is just the next match.”
Roux believes that teams will have to be managed better because of the higher intensity of the tournament and that the rotation of players and squad depth will have an important role to play.
“Everybody is very excited about the new tournament format and it’s going to generate a lot of interest. Derby matches are always well supported and from that perspective I’m expecting bigger interest in the tournament,” he said.
In South Africa, a lot is expected from last year’s finalists, the Bulls and Stormers. The Sharks’ Currie Cup title win in 2010 and the Cheetahs’ success against local sides should count in their favour.
Bulls’ coach Frans Ludeke believes that the high expectations of the Lions may ease some of the pressure on the other South African teams.
“It will definitely take the pressure off us (the Bulls won the title in 2010) for our match against the Lions next week because they will be favourites as things stand now,” said Ludeke.
The Lions have a new Super Rugby coach in John Mitchell, and they have made a few star player acquisitions.
The Lions beat the Sharks 41-10 in a warm-up game last week.
