The starting Wallabies XV for the most recent South African Test match was the following:
Robinson, Polota-Nau, Alexander, Sharpe, Douglas, Dennis, Hooper, Samo, Phipps, Beale, Ioane, Mccabe, Ashley-Cooper, Shipperley, Barnes
The first proposition of this article is that the team named would be beaten by the following:
Kepu, Moore, Palmer, Horwill, Timani, Higginbotham, Pocock, Palu, Genia, Cooper, Tomane, Lealiifano, O’Connor, Mitchell, Turner
All of these players are injured. Nor are they the only injured players and there could be a considerable debate as to which injured team should be selected in different circumstances.
Recent Wallabies such as Ben McCalman and Cooper Vuna, young talents such as Chris Sautia, senior figures who played last year such as Dan Vickerman and Rocky Elsom – all of these and more are part of the vast ward of crocked players who otherwise might be able to play.
This was all before Saturday’s match, when the injury calamity reached the point of farce, with so many further wounded that 14 men finished the match.
Of course it should be obvious from the strength of the shadow XV that it would be a miracle to beat top three quality international teams, but such is the hysteria of Robbie Deans’ detractors that reason and fairness are not so much pushed aside as trampled into atomic particles.
If Deans had access to the players concerned, a far more dangerous outfit could be assembled and probably the best for much of a decade. In theory therefore, a dramatic watershed could take place on the international field next season.
But doesn’t this suppose that the plague won’t return, perhaps with greater vengeance, to blight the Lions tour and Bledisloe Cup once more?
The question must now be asked why Australia is losing so many more players through injury than its two regular adversaries, who take part in the same tournaments?
Firstly, it should be made clear that most of these injuries occurred at state level, or if during Wallaby training or play they are largely recurrences of injuries suffered with the franchises. Though of course, the fanatical anti-Deans cult would delight in blaming them all on him.
One idea is that Australian franchises insist on heavy weight training to make up for a perceived or real lack of physicality with respect to their New Zealand or South African foes. Perhaps after being out-muscled, the instinctive response of the fitness gurus is to lift big.
Another is that there may be over-exertion across the board because of the tremendous challenges faced against New Zealand and South African Super Rugby teams, and that strain and a lack of confidence lead to physical tension and stress which, in turn, generate injuries.
Is it a general style of fitness training in Australian sport, maybe the mistake of applying training ideas better suited to one sport in another, given the choice of systems from two other broadly similar codes close to hand?
Perhaps coaches don’t rest or rotate players enough, and expect their best to carry match after match, something less necessary in New Zealand where the replacement is often as good as the starter.
These are all little more than tentative suggestions. The author has not fathomed the source of this epidemic. One thing is clear though, if the malady is not remedied next season, the Wallabies will need divine intervention to put a competitive team on the field again.
Mike
Guest
Great link James.
James
Guest
I found the answer surprisingly on a saffa website http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/121004/Player_management_gives_Kiwis_the_edge
Brad Thorn
Guest
Brad Thorn's secret to longevity and almost injury free career is that he does 'yoga' everyday. Maa Nonu also does yoga on a regular basis. He has a private yoga teacher turn up every week. The Wallabies look like they do a lot of weights, so maybe they need to counter that with flexibility and limberness.
doug
Guest
I believe players are not rotated and rushed back early from injury at state level because we do not have the depth beneath state level to cover any losses. The kiwi's and saffa's can dip into the ITM and Curry Cup. We have nothing.
bennalong
Guest
KPM Good Post I am interested in this problem and tried to communicate both the Tahs and the Wallabies directly about the obvious bulking up from weight training. I was naive. They have their experts! There are lots of injuries that it's not easy to apportion blame to, and these include medial and lateral ligaments and anterior cruciate ligaments of the knee. Also most ankle injuries But hamstring and calf muscle tears can definitely be related to excessive use of weights, though just what excessive is is not agreed on But one of the examples I cited to the Tahs related to the training of AFL players (who look more like rugby players of old) and after reading a post in the Roar I confirmed that Essendon suffered a calamatous increase in injuries which was in part definitely attributed to weights and caused them to fall dramatically from competition contenders half way through the season. On the other hand North Melbourne under Ray Breed and Peter Mulkearns achieved the amazing stats of no, yes NO, soft tissue injuries until round twenty! They've just parted ways with the club so maybe they'd be able to run a measure over rugby training measures and offer some advice! The Tahs players fitness has improved since training with the Wallabies as any fan will observe, so don't put this one on Deans
ThelmaWrites
Guest
Here's a BRILLIANT thought from left field! I've just been watching the T20 results on CNN. The structure of international and provincial rugby is pretty much set and difficult to dislodge/alter. Why don't we SHORTEN the game? Say, from the present 80 minutes to 60 minutes, with 30 minute halves? The players will be on field only 75% of the time, and we will all be home sooner!
Mike
Guest
Pot Hale, there is much force in what you say. But on the other hand, we don't want to let go of teams in Perth and Melbourne if we can help it - it would be a long time before they could be re-established, and there are strong grass-roots rugby communities there. If (and I realise its a big if) we can get the 3rd tier underneath sorted out, then the five city teams will give us a good platform to establish rugby as a true national presence in Australia.
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
True. You would hope that the Rugby admin community could play the team game and listen to the advice, do regular testing and shepherd the players, at least physically through their careers.
kingplaymaker
Guest
The problem then PH is you abandon two huge markers and potential sources of future players.
Derm
Roar Guru
That's an alternative KPM, but not a better one at this point. This is back to basics. Create three much stronger teams, ones that are regularly in the playoffs with home matches, and where player combinations get established that can be easily transferred to test level.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Big Boppa some have happened for the Wallabies certainly, but I think in most cases they were recurrences of Super rugby injures: Genia, Moore and Timani out of those listed. Of course injuries occur in international rugby, but most of the players the Wallabies could chose from at the start of international season either were injured from Super rugby or had been injured earlier in Super rugby.
chris
Guest
I am too lazy to do it myself, but can someone compare the end of year squad that played after the world cup against list of injured players. I am no sports doctor, but I remember from my days of playing at very low level that you would often have little niggles during a season that wasn't quite bad enough to stop you from playing. At the level these guys are playing those niggle much be ten times worse and without a decent rest between seasons, niggles turn into injuries until the body finally breakdown.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Mike the problem with much of the ARU's strategy is that it's too slow, too little or too late. So with this injury issue they have allowed the Western Force one player more, and the other franchises one player more, when the Force probably need a quota of 5 to make any difference, especially as one of the imports is likely to be injured much of the time. This is a short term fix, while a national competition although it would probably have very fast results is a harder and bigger step. Combined they would go a long way to solving the problem.
chris
Guest
Hmm, would love to see the source of the claim that McCaw has played near 400 games in the last eleven years. He's got about 110 test caps and maybe 130 super rugby caps. I'd be suprised if he has more than 50 ITM caps. It is also worth noting that he has been missing a lot of Super rugby over the last couple of years.
Mike
Guest
I may be wrong, but I didn't read KPM as "blaming the Super teams". It is a fact that most of the injuries have been sustained in lower level competition, not test. If we want to be in S15 (and I do) then we have to accept that it involves increased strain on our players. That in turn shows up defects in match fitness and conditioning across our entire player pool. That is not something to blame S15 for, but it does mean that if we want to keep going at this level of participation, then Australian Rugby needs to lift its game in terms of injury and fitness management.
Big Boppa
Guest
KPM - you seem very determined to blame the Super teams for the injuries. Cooper was at the RWC, Genia in the test, Barnes, AAC, Ioane in the test. The Wallabies took Moore and Timani both to SA and neither were fit to train or play - whose fault is that?, Higgers in training, TPN in every game he plays etc etc. yes players get injured in Super Rugby but there are 5 teams playing. Have a look at the injury rate per team, then look at how many are from direct contact (unavoidable in a contact sport) then give us your opinion
Leo
Guest
Rugby has its share of injuries as well and there are many who put it off until the off season but the current injury crisis are for far worst injuries. Lote, Rogers and that huge failure Tahu was a long time ago so need to mention them. At least rugby player don't pretend to be injured just to avoid international games like they do in rugby league where clubs have the final say. Pretty sure that Australian super rugby teams are playing the best rugby talents of any rugby codes from New Zealand and Australia every week where players run continuouesly for 80 minutes unlike league where one or two players take up up while the rest just stand there and the game is also stop every two seconds.
Mike
Guest
I think your first post hits the nail on the head. Australian Rugby has not adapted to the greater intensity of our players' commitments, in particular S15. We have been caught napping, and we now have to adapt. We need to learn from how SA Rugby and NZ Rugby manage these things, and we need to learn from the other codes in Australia - both AFL and NRL seem to be ahead of us in this department. Possible solutions: 1. ARU to take a more central role in injury and fitness management, but also to work with S15 and State unions to achieve best results, but taking into account their legitimate concerns rather than just dictating a solution without discussion. 2. KPM's idea of allowing more foreign players into our S15 sides, temporarily, to ease pressure on the player pool. 3. Study the solutions used by other countries and other codes, to see which most appropriate to Australian conditions.
Atawhai Drive
Guest
Give him a break? Exactly. If anyone's earned it, McCaw has. Rugby's aristocrats deserve looking after. Australia's more humble playing stock only get a break when injury strikes. The question remains: why are so many Wallabies injured?
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Perhaps the key is management then. It would seem as if a Super rugby coach has carte blanche to flog a player until he drops, and then immediately start flogging again.