Bob Skinstad says South African rugby’s “full-year schedule” could derail the Springboks’ World Cup title defence in 2027.
Since leaving Super Rugby and joining the Vodacom URC in 2021, South Africa has straddled both the southern and northern hemisphere seasons, with the Springboks still taking part in the Rugby Championship during the European off-season.
Skinstad, a former Springbok No 8 and captain who has lived in the UK for several years, believes this non-stop rugby played a part in South Africa’s absence from the Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 playoffs this season for the first time since becoming eligible to play in the competition in 2022-23.
“I was involved the other day in a conversation in which the point was made that South Africa aren’t turning up in Europe,” Skinstad told Planet Rugby.
“If you look at the URC and the Champions Cup, we still haven’t had the season off that we were supposed to get, because we’ve turned our season upside down for the UK.
“It was going to be summer UK rugby, but it’s not summer UK rugby. It’s turned into summer SA. Now we’ve got a full-year schedule. We’re playing rugby in every month of the year.
“So when people say, ‘why can’t they [SA teams] make it through in Champions Cup?’ I’d say it’s down to pure game numbers. Something has to give eventually.
“And at the moment it’s our backs in the biggest competition, which is the Champions Cup. You see that we weren’t represented at all. We’ve been a little bit better in the URC.”
ALSO: Bulls aim to turn SA fans into URC diehards
Skinstad said he was worried the Springboks could also be affected by the demanding schedule as they aim to win an unprecedented hat-trick of World Cup titles.
“Look, I’ve got great faith in Rassie Erasmus and the fact that he doesn’t care what anyone says, he’s happy to put in 15 new guys in a rotational squad system, and he’s done it better than any other coach.
“We saw it against New Zealand and Wales in 2023. He played two completely different teams within two weeks of each other and both did very well.
“He’s continuously building as many players as possible in every position, and he plays the right player, not always the best player, the right player for the squad, more often than not.
“I think that that’s going to stand us in good stead. But do I think we’ve got a pile-up of too many games? Yes, I do.
MORE: Injury update is sweet and sour for Bok No 8s
“Look,” added Skinstad. “We’re never going to lack hunger going into any big tournament. It’s not in our DNA. We’ll absolutely go to Australia for the 2027 World Cup determined to make history by winning three in a row.
“But we are very fortunate to have Rassie. Without him I’d be a lot more concerned. He is the right man for the job because he’s got an absolutely refined sense of what’s most important for South Africa.”
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
The post Skinstad: Burnout could hit Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.