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United Rugby Championship

NEWS: Current rugby climate is unsustainable for top SA players – John Plumtree

Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree is the latest high profile rugby personality to express the need for a proper break for South African players, particularly those representing local franchises, during what has become an intensely convoluted rugby calendar.

Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree is the latest high profile rugby personality to express the need for a proper break for South African players, particularly those representing local franchises, during what has become an intensely convoluted rugby calendar.

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Speaking after his side’s 20-24 URC defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town, the Kiwi coach again highlighted the necessity for players to be afforded real time off sometime in the year – one only needs to look at the Cape franchise’s ongoing injury crisis for further justification of that.

“Unless these guys are managed properly, we’re gonna see – we might not see it straight away – but an accumulation [of injuries] over time,” Plumtree said. “With the World Cup coming up in three and a half years, I guess there’s a danger certainly of some of our older athletes not being able to make it.

“It’s definitely something we have to look at. It’s not something that a coach should get in trouble for talking about, because the reality is this is what we’re dealing with, playing in the southern hemisphere, playing in the northern hemisphere. Unless that’s sorted out, we’ll see that [increasing injuries].”

The country’s top players are in action virtually non-stop throughout the year, and while Plumtree acknowledges that SA athletes are coping well right now, it is unsustainable in the long term without a proper off-season leading into a pre-season.

“South Africa is in a really good position to handle it, no other country in the world could. Because we’ve got some really good depth here and we’ve got a lot of good players, and Rassie [Erasmus] has got access to them anywhere, which is good.

“For the players that play for South Africa in South Africa, they definitely need to be managed well. And it’s not just about rest and playing rugby, it’s rest and getting their bodies right by having a pre-season window where they can actually get fitter and stronger.

“That’s the part that’s probably denied to them at the moment.”

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