Form, not age, should be Bok yardstick
The obsession with the age of several Springboks is not just becoming tiresome, it should have no relevance to which players play in the World Cup next year.
This is the view of former Blue Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer, who said the age issue is a “cliche” and a “perception” that is blinding people from seeing the real value of players.
The Boks’ poor Tri-Nations form – they won their first game of the season when they beat the Wallabies 44-31 in Pretoria at the weekend – has stirred the debate over the value of certain senior Boks.
Fingers are often pointed to the 30-something Boks – like captain John Smit and his vice-captain Victor Matfield – being too old.
The naysayers feel that next year’s World Cup in New Zealand will be a bridge too far.
However, Meyer disagrees.
In an exclusive interview with rugby365.com he said that with the right management the experience of these ‘old hands’ can be invaluable.
“Age [of players] is a big perception,” Meyer said, adding: “You get guys at 26 and 150 games that are done [past their sell-by date].
“Carl Lewis won Olympic Gold at age 34,” Meyer said adding that in an endurance sport like the Iron man the average age of the top guys are between 38 and 42.
“Being ‘too old’ is a very big cliche,” he said, adding: England, at the 2003 World Cup, had several players over 32. You can go through that team and see how many players were into their 30s.
“In England’s domestic competition many players also continue into their late 30s.”
Meyer used 29-year-old Springbok flank Juan Smith as a prime example of just what a good break can do to.
Smith, due to personal reasons and a groin injury, missed the June internationals and the Boks’ Australasian leg of the Tri-Nations.
In the past fortnight he was one of the stand-out performers, against the All Blacks and Wallabies.
“He has recovered and is refreshed, and look how brilliant he has been [the last two weeks],” Meyer told rugby365.com.
Meyer said he doesn’t buy into the theory of being ‘too old’.
“I feel it is important how you manage the players and how you manage their conditioning.
“There is a very fine line between over-train and under-train, but the symptoms are the same. If you are over-trained the player is lethargic and can’t play. The opposite is also true, if a player is not fit he will have the same symptoms.
“The key is to know which players you need to push harder and which players you need to take the foot off the pedal.”
The Bulls boss, who is now in charge of the overall coaching structures in Pretoria, said there is no doubt that experience remain one of the key ingredients at a World Cup.
“The one thing I do know is that a World Cup is not like Super Rugby, you do need experience.
“I have done a lot of research on this, and the teams that have won the World Cup were the teams with lots of experience.
“Obviously you need to be super fit, very disciplined and have a few youngsters and game-breakers.”
Meyer reiterated that too much fuss is being made of the ages of the current batch of Boks.
“I personally don’t feel the players are too old,” Meyer said, adding: “I don’t believe you select according to age, you select according to form.
“I had a guy, Johan Kapp, who at 36, 37 still played great rugby for me and at all the training sessions always ran in the front.
“You should not attach age to selection, you attach form and management to it.”
