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Aotearoa injury carnage heightens Bok concerns

rugby28 July 2020 06:27| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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James Parsons © Getty Images

Anyone doubting the Springboks real concern about the conditioning of their players ahead of a November Rugby Championship tournament should cast an eye to the Aotearoa tournament taking place in New Zealand right now.

While New Zealand was rightly praised for their handling of the Coronavirus and their return to play protocols, their rush back to get onto the field is having some big consequences for the teams in terms of injuries.

And all this underlines a stark reality for a physical sport such as rugby with the South African franchises only returning to training in small groups last week after four months in lockdown.

New Zealand rushed back to the field after a five-week return to play protocol, and now, halfway through the competition, their injury list is rising in near Test-match like conditions.

It is the sort of concern that was expressed by new Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber this week with a limited amount of time to get the Boks up to speed before facing some of the toughest opposition in test rugby in New Zealand.

The Springboks are set to have seven week return to play, two weeks more than New Zealand but also a massive concern as it is way less than they would normally have going into an international season.

There is understandably a hunger for rugby to resume, but even at seven weeks, there are doubts whether that, coupled with six domestic season games, is ideal preparation for test rugby in November.

Already the New Zealand Players Association has expressed its concern at the toll the competition is taking on players in the country.

"You just have to watch the games," NZRPA Executive Director Rob Nichol told Reuters.

"They're incredibly intense both emotionally and physically.

"It's as close as you're going to get to test match rugby.

"And we all know that if you ask players to play three Tier One test matches in a row ... to come down emotionally and then get back up is pretty hard."

Hurricanes coach Jason Holland has already said his team would not be able to play a fifth straight game while injuries have affected all the teams, including the Crusaders.

Holland has lost star players Ngame Laumape and Frasier Armstrong and admits he is battling.

"Obviously it takes a lot to get Ngani Laumape and Fraser Armstrong off the park ...To be honest we were battling during the week. We spent the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday recovering this week from a big Blues game so it needs some thinking about because we need our bodies right. We need to make sure that the boys don't have short careers."

Both players had fractures, and Laumape would have been a certainty for the All Blacks.

The Chiefs also lost winger Solomon Alaimalo with a dislocated shoulder this weekend.

Last week the Crusaders lost influential centre Braydon Ennor to a foot injury, and have already lost vice-captain David Havili (thumb) and loose forward Ethan Blackadder for the season. They also have captain Scott Barrett and flanker Cullen Grace who were injured and ruled out of the season earlier.

While injuries are part and parcel of the modern game of rugby, the intensity of the modern game, coupled with insufficient preparation, could be a massive issue when the Rugby Championship takes place, and will need some meticulous planning.

Especially as South Africa has a distinct disadvantage where they have not been able to train.

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