For overworked rugby players, less is more

"It's time", Borland says, "to realise that less is more." The Rugby Championship, for example, features the top three teams in the world as well as the exciting rising powers Argentina. This "should be all about the best the game can offer, a showpiece for the talents of most of the best players on the planet."

But unfortunately for rugby's governing body Sanzar, it's all about quantity rather than quality. They aim to fill every weekend of the year with rugby rather than ensuring that their product is the best it can be. Borland quotes leading South African sports scientist Professor Tim Noakes who says that "it is impossible for the players to play with their usual intensity and accuracy after more than 14 weeks of high-intensity rugby." Borland says,

Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie said it is paramount that teams protect their key assets, their players, and mitigate the risks of injury where possible. Effectively this means that teams should determine the amount of minutes players spend in training versus the amount of minutes spent playing actual games. "The bigger squads the SuperRugby coaches are asking for will help alleviate the situation a bit," Borland says in his Daily Maverick piece, "but ... the only long-term solution is for Sanzar to cut back on the schedule."

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