The increasingly fluid nature of modern rugby as it moves from the Vodacom United Rugby Championship one weekend to the Guinness Six Nations the next and then back to the Investec Champions Cup thereafter is taking some getting used to for players, coaches and fans. But Springbok legend Jean de Villiers believes it does have its benefits.
With the global rugby calendar now packed with domestic and international competitions running concurrently, De Villiers says it is requiring an adjustment on behalf of the South African teams in particular.
“I think South Africans are still getting used to the new season of rugby. When I used to play, Super Rugby started in early February, then June-July was incoming tours, then it was Tri-Nations/Currie Cup and then it was the end of year tour. Now, from a player and supporter point of view, it’s vastly different,” says De Villiers.
“The breaks that come in the season for other competitions is something we in the southern hemisphere are still adjusting to. We’re used to participating in one competition, finishing that up and then moving on to the next one. So there is an entirely new level of rugby education required for the supporters in particular.”
But De Villiers also sees a benefit for the South African game over the next five years.
“Our coaches have a vastly different role to play. They need to manage squads and map out far further than previously in terms of the balance of getting results and resting key players. They’re now working on a 12-month spread sheet rather than competition by competition.
“I also believe it will lead to our players becoming far more aware of their own careers and managing themselves to the best of their abilities. With a global season like this you run the risk as a sporting code of burning out your main asset, which is the players.
“But we’re seeing deeper squads being developed and coaches approaching player management with a heightened focus, because it’s in all of our interests to have our best players competing regularly.
“I do believe that within five years or so we’ll so a smoother rugby season as a result.”
De Villiers says he is also enjoying the mix that a Six Nations amidst the Vodacom United Rugby Championship season brings to the game.
“In a way, these competitions now being intertwined as they are is creating a nice mix in the game. For example, one weekend we’re seeing players in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship who are on the fringes of national selection, and then a week later you watch the Welsh team for example and you wonder how that Ospreys player who did so well the weekend before can perhaps fit into the set-up and improve Welsh Test rugby. It’s like constant trials in between an international season, which is great.”
