As the South African teams head into an historic first full festive rugby programme of Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Heineken Champions Cup action, former Springbok Stefan Terblanche has advised that success could hinge more on what happens off the field than on it.
“I think it’s going to be tough. The physical conditioning of the players will be very important. But I think the most important part of this next phase of the competition will be recovery,” says Terblanche.
Terblanche certainly understands the conditions the South African teams will face, having played in the Northern Hemisphere and in some of the biggest matches over the festive season up there. He was widely recognised as one of the fittest rugby players in his career and a pioneer in terms of player physical conditioning for his time. When Bismarck du Plessis was contemplating his return to the game for the Vodacom Bulls, he admitted that one of the conversations he had was with Terblanche in terms of understanding what he was still physically capable of.
“Players often train too hard or want to do too much in the week leading up to a game,” says Terblanche.
“I think the work they have done in the pre-season is paramount and that will carry them through the season, especially with the traveling now going to the Northern Hemisphere and the change of weather and conditions and then coming back. It will be hard. But I’d definitely say that from a player point of view, the most important thing now is going to be the recovery after the games.”