What should South Africa Rugby focus on this year?

The 2009 rugby season is just a few weeks away from starting now. First up we have the Super 14 where all five of South Africa’s franchises are out to do well in. Straight after the Super 14 there will be the British Lions tour to South Africa where they will play three tests against the Boks and then straight after that, the Boks take on New Zealand and Australia in the Tri-Nations.
Now looking ahead to the Super 14; South Africa’s best hopes probably lie in the Sharks and Stormers teams. Now both these teams have quite a number of Springboks in them. Now if one or both of them make the semi-finals of the Super 14 that would mean that a large number of Springboks would have already played 14 games of high intensity rugby. The semi-finals of the Super 14 are on May 23 and if somehow a South African team makes the final on 30 May they will obviously have to use their Springbok players if they are still fit and not injured.

The first Springbok test is on 20 June against the Lions in Durban. The Boks do not have any warm-up matches before the first Lions test which in itself could prove to be a disadvantage for the Boks. But if you look at the time difference between the semi-finals of the Super 14 and the first Bok test, it is just under a four week break. Having come from a tough Super 14 and straight into a critical test series, the Springbok players maybe a bit tired and jaded not to mention injured from the Super 14. So what does SA Rugby do?

Do they let their players play all out in the Super 14 and hope that a South African team wins the Super 14 or do they think about resting certain key Springbok players during the Super 14 with the view of making sure they are ready for the Lions Tour? The All Blacks tried the tactic of resting their key players in the Super 14 before the World Cup but look at how that backfired on them. I can not see a play such as Jean de Villiers playing an entire Super 14 campaign and then being fully fit for the Lions Tour in 3 weeks time. Some strategic player management is going to have to be done between SA Rugby and the Super 14 franchises.

And it also does not help that the last test in the Lions Tour is on 4 July and the first Springbok match in the Tri-Nations is on 25 July. That is just a 3 week break for the players. Yet again I feel that the Springboks are going to get battered and bruised by the Lions. The Boks should win the series but it will not be easy. So coming from a tough time against the Lions, first up will be the All Blacks on 25 July in Bloemfontein and that is also going to be a hard fixture for the Boks. The Boks play 6 fixtures in the Tri-Nations, although they are spread out, still, it is 6 tough games they have to try to win.

So now after an intense Super 14, then a bruising Lions Tour and finally a Tri-Nations, can the Boks play at a high level in all three competitions or a sacrifice has to be made for one of these competitions? If a sacrifice has to be made, it definitely will not be sacrificing the Lions Tour as I see this being the last series a number of the Boks could be playing in before they retire so they want to win it.

It would be okay if the Boks had two teams like the All Blacks and they could field one team one weekend and another the next weekend but I am fearful of the Boks trying to do this especially since you have the likes of Earl Rose being touted as the second choice flyhalf for South Africa!