Last weekend’s South Africa vs Australia match strikes me as a another episode in an ongoing, and very clever, con job. True, the Wallabies don’t play at altitude very often. For that matter, neither do most of the Boks.
Even those that do play there do so somewhere else most of the time.
Furthermore, the altitude conditioning affect does not last indefinitely. How is it that they don’t seem to be much fazed by it?
It does have an impact, but I think that they – the players and coaches – think too much and the South Africa media helps them to stay focused on it as much as they can.
So here’s a suggestion.
Any team, be it a Super 14 side, the Wallabies, the All Blacks, and so on, that play more than one match in South Africa should go straight to altitude and stay there for the duration.
The Wallabies should have started with a week’s work in Johannesburg (or somewhere higher and nicer) and then gone to Durban for the day.
No problems.
Then it would be straight back to Johannesburg for another week. They’d have no excuses and maybe a little edge over their South Africa opponents who have to stay home roughing it on the beach or wherever.
International rugby is a professional game. Any moaning about the hard time this idea might suggest should be balanced with a reminder of how miserable the long flight home is after a flogging.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Written off ahead of the weekend in several quarters, the Crusaders have responded with full vengeance after smashing the fourth-placed Rebels 39-0 in an…
Ned Hanigan is one of the in-form forwards in Australian rugby who looks set to finally turn promise into quality on the international stage,…
As calls grow for the entire Rugby Australia board to be overthrown, new chairman Daniel Herbert described the agitators behind the movement as hypocrites…
Three things in the world of rugby have caught my eye this week, and got me thinking very hard about the way forward, and…
Amid a week of soul-searching for Stephen Larkham’s men, the Brumbies have received a massive boost ahead of Saturday’s home clash against the ladder-leading…
Jordan Petaia may have played his last match for the Reds, with the off-contract Wallabies back to miss the rest of the Super Rugby…
