Boks keep Dr Roberts on his toes
Bok team doctor Craig Roberts has the unenviable task of trying to whip several World Cup-bound stars into shape.
|||Johannesburg - Who would want to be Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts this week?
Roberts has the unenviable task of trying to whip several World Cup-bound stars into shape before next weekend’s opening game against Japan in Brighton, but at the same time he’s got to prevent any further injuries from disrupting the squad.
It’s a fine balancing act for the highly experienced doctor who’s had his fair share of injuries to deal with in the build-up to the tournament.
Men like Duane Vermeulen, Fourie du Preez, Francois Louw, Jean de Villiers and Jannie du Plessis haven’t played a lot of rugby in recent times; some none at all. The entire squad in fact will arrive at Heathrow on Saturday morning having last played a match a month ago – against Argentina on August 15. And, Roberts admits, there’s a mighty big difference between being training ground fit and match fit.
“The guys have trained incredibly hard and are fit and lean, but the catch-22 is you want the guys to be game fit, because there’s a difference between being training fit and match fit.
“This will still be a week of quite a bit of conditioning so we’ll try to simulate match conditions as best we can and get the guys to take contact. But, you also don’t want to be silly and pick up an injury now. It’s the last thing you want. We’re going to have to be clever how we go about it,” said Roberts on Monday.
The biggest concerns are No8 Vermeulen (neck injury) and scrumhalf Du Preez (knee), who are both key men in coach Heyneke Meyer’s squad, but neither has played a match for the Boks in 2015.
“We’re building the guys up slowly and progressing them into full training. Fourie has done really well considering he hasn’t played much rugby and he’s one guy who we’re trying to get more simulated game time in training... mainly to build his confidence,” said Roberts.
“Duane has spent 12 weeks on the sidelines so he’s been very frustrated and just wants to get on the field and have fun. We’ve had to hold him back a bit in training.”
The good news for the Boks though is they haven’t picked up any further injuries and are unlikely to do so if the players look after themselves. Wales, for example, who were in action this last weekend in their final warm-up before the World Cup, have suffered a significant setback with key back and goal-kicker Leigh Halfpenny now doubtful for the tournament.
“I’m comfortable with where we are,” said Roberts. “If we were still playing a game this weekend then I’d really start worrying. You don’t want to lose players in warm-up games.
“Once we get to England we’ll taper down on the training volume and load. Everyone is on track to be available for the opening game.”
The Boks who didn’t train on Monday are Bryan Habana and De Villiers, who have flu, while Eben Etzebeth, who’s got a grade 1 calf strain, but should be fine next week, sat out because of a bout of gastro.
The Star