De Villiers admits concerns

De Villiers: Concerned for welfare of players

This (2009) has been a very long season and it is evident that many players are mentally and physically fatigued

Peter de Villiers
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South Africa coach Peter de Villiers is concerned over his players' demanding schedule and is set to tackle the problem with his bosses ahead of next season.

The Springboks disappointing tour ended in defeat when Ireland beat them 15-10 at Croke Park.

The match marked the world champions' fourth defeat in five games - with the Boks also losing to France, Leicester and Saracens - and takes some of the gloss off their victory over the British and Irish Lions and the triumphant Tri-Nations campaign.

With a host of Springboks players remaining in London to turn out for the Barbarians against the All Blacks next weekend, de Villiers believes something must be done about the taxing workload that is taking its toll on his team.

"A number of players have played over 2,000 minutes of rugby this year," said de Villiers.

"We need a unified approach to address this and a host of other matters relevant to the welfare of our top players."

De Villiers revealed that plans are in place for discussions with the South African Rugby Union, as well as the medical conditioning staff at the provincial unions, to talk about how best to gain top results from the players ahead of the 2011 World Cup.

Fatigued

"It's imperative that we monitor the players training and playing load with their longer term well being in mind," added de Villiers.

"This has been a very long season and it is evident that many players are mentally and physically fatigued.

"In order to get best out of our players for 2011 we will have to manage their training and playing times during 2010."

De Villiers also reflected on the tour, which highlighted many trouble spots in the squad, and insisted it had provided an educational end to the season.

"It is never nice to lose but we have learnt a lot from this tour," he added.

"Regardless of the disappointing end to the year you cannot take away the successes that made this team the best in the world in 2009.

"We have been able to identify our key focus areas for next year and we have been able to identify some of the players who will take the Springboks forward after 2011."