Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen and his coaching staff are coming up with “creative” solutions for training sessions this December in their bid to keep their players focused as the South African teams play festive season rugby for the first time in their history in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
As the rest of South Africa prepares to put their feet up and head off for the December holidays, the South African franchises are still lacing up their boots and in the thick of a heavy training and playing schedule, specifically with Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches on 23 and 31 December.
“I think it will be a challenge. At a time when everyone usually goes on holiday, we now need to train every day and be prepared. It will be a mental challenge and it’s something new for the players and management,” says Van Rooyen.
“It’s in the most vital part of our season and that’s the challenge for us. It will be in the middle of our 10-week block so it’s really important for us to be as well prepared as possible and get as many points as we can from this block. We’re playing against the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers, so hopefully we can get some points there.”
In a bid to keep the players’ minds on the field and not on the beach, Van Rooyen says they’ll be shaking up their schedule a bit.
“We are going to get creative around training times and days just to keep the players mentally fresh. We had a training session at 6am one day and then a great team-building session in the afternoon. We also had a few players and management take part in the recent Vodacom RED Lions Golf Day with fans and VIPs at the Lost City Golf Club and they stayed over at The Palace of the Lost City, which also helps to recharge the batteries.
“So it’s about changing training times and days, inviting the families and the kids that are around to join us at training, and to make it as festive and family as possible and try and stimulate them mentally with different times by training early morning or even at night. It’s about trying to get them out of that fatigue mode, if that makes sense.”
Jaco Kriel certainly has experience of festive season rugby from his time playing for Gloucester in England, and he brings a wealth of advice to the squad.
“It was something different. I really think it’s something the South African players are going to have to get used to, especially the youngsters who haven’t played a lot. It’s going to be a massive challenge from usually having a week or two off over Christmas and New Year. But they’ll have to get used to it because this is the competition going forward.
“My advice to the younger players in terms of staying fresh is that if you have even the smallest break, get away from rugby and training grounds and refresh yourself mentally. Take it week by week and be honest with the coaches as well. If you feel drained and mentally not there, just tell them. At the end of the day it’s a team sport and we have to look after each other. Trust the team behind your team to guide you and direct you, otherwise you can burn out.”
And captain Reinhard Nothnagel believes the actual geography of their own situation is the biggest strength for the team in pulling even closer together during this time.
“One mechanism we have for the team is that we’re going to make it fun for each other. Our team has to come closer together to make it fun for ourselves so we don’t fall into the trap of wanting to be on holiday with the family. We’re actually in a unique situation in Johannesburg because we all stay far from the stadium, so we have to make an effort to be with each other. So when we are with each other it becomes quality time that we spend with each other. That goes a long way off the field, and it carries through onto the field in training and in games.”
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