Long break ahead of quarters poses questions for Boks

World Rugby has made it known that the next global events in Australia in 2027 and the United States will probably feature 24 teams as opposed to the current 20 and more Pools with fewer participants - all of which will cut away the dead periods faced by teams in France 2023.

However, what happens in the future won’t arrive in time to erase a question that should be bugging the Springbok coaches as they look ahead to their probable all-or-nothing quarterfinal against hosts France on the night of 15 October - what impact will the inordinate three-week break from action have on the players not involved in Sunday’s final Pool clash with Tonga?

With each of the four Pools currently being made up of an odd number of teams, five, there has to be a bye week, meaning a two-week break, at some point.

For most of the sides, including Scotland, who had a fortnight off after their opening game against South Africa ahead of their next game against Tonga, and England, who are on their break now, the gap has come during the group phase.

GROUP PHASE ENDS EARLY

However, for the Boks the break comes at the completion of the Pool fixtures, meaning for them the group phase ends early.

There is another round of games scheduled for next weekend, but the World Cup champions won’t be playing.

Some will argue that the break ahead of a quarterfinal favours the Boks. And in some senses it does.

They should know who they will be playing in the quarterfinal once their clash with Tonga is done and dusted, and they will have two weeks to prepare exclusively for that one game and, probably, to plot what they hope will be the early exit of the hosts.

Two weeks is plenty of time for players to get over niggles and the inevitable bumps and bruises that are part and parcel of rugby.

They definitely won’t be arriving at the start of the playoff phase, which in their minds they will be looking at as a two-week period which will include three tough matches, feeling overdone or stale.

What could rather be a concern though is that by mid-October those players not playing against Tonga will be underdone or, to use the common euphemism, they will be rusty.

In competition play during the year, meaning the various national tournaments and the intercontinental competitions like the Vodacom United Rugby Championship that are played on a consecutive week basis, teams often find they lose a bit of momentum immediately after a bye.

Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White for instance felt he’d made a mistake when he went into his team’s crucial Christmas derby against the DHL Stormers a few months ago with a team that hadn’t played for three weeks.

RIGHT SELECTION FOR TONGA GAME

The Boks have done the right thing by not putting out their top team, meaning the one that is likely to play in the quarterfinal, for Sunday’s game against Tonga.

For the purpose of keeping everyone in the squad motivated and unified, the so-called fringe players do need to have playing time and something to work towards.

Yet the bulk of the Bok team that plays France in the quarterfinal will not have played since last Saturday’s tight loss to Ireland - a break that is actually one day more than three weeks.

The only players who are facing Tonga in the starting team who were part of the first choice team that played Ireland in Paris are skipper Siya Kolisi, who leads his country for the 50th time, lock Eben Etzebeth and No 8 Jasper Wiese.

There are players who featured last week on the bench for the Tonga match in Marseille, including Manie Libbok, and the starting scrumhalf on Sunday,

Cobus Reinach, did play against Ireland. But still, it does appear most of the players who will be involved in the quarterfinal have a substantial gap from playing ahead of them.

It’s not an ideal situation, although national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and coach Jacques Nienaber are both meticulous planners and will have given the scenario much thought. Knowing them, they will feel they have a plan in place.

But the match-day squad that contests the quarterfinal is likely to feature mostly players who won’t have played for 22 days and it’s going to be interesting to see if that is a positive or a negative for the Boks.

Unfortunately as it will be a knockout game they will only know the answer once the day of reckoning is upon them.

By contrast France, who are on a bye this week, finish off the group phase against Italy next Friday - nine days before their probable quarterfinal clash with South Africa.

Given the opposition, who are not really strong enough to beat them but strong enough to give them a good workout before the quarterfinal, it does seem France face the preferable scenario ahead of the start of the business end of the competition.