Victor Matfield, the Springbok vice-captain and Bulls Captain has given his views on the subject of players resting.

Many people felt the Springboks were exhausted on their tour of Europe in November which was a large factor in the poor results.

I have to agree. It was evident during the latter stages of the Currie Cup that some players such as Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn were tired. They had played too much high intensity rugby in 2009. Yet others such as Bryan Habana were in prime physical and mental condition and were operating at peak capacity. It shows that players need individual monitoring.

University of Cape Town Sports Professor Tim Noakes warned that the Boks were burnt out and should not have toured, and that if they are not rested enough, they will be affected when they defend the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011.

Matfield said that if the results were better on the end of year tour no one would be talking about rest. He said “It’s difficult to say we needed to rest during the end of year tour. I mean, how do you willingly miss a Springbok test? If you need to be rested, then surely it isn’t when the Springboks play, those are the most important games to play for any player, to represent your country.

He makes a great point. I don’t believe a player should ever be rested from playing for the national side. That is the pinnacle and the reason why players play the game.

Peter de Villiers has said the same thing, which is the reason he did not rest players when it was perhaps in the players’ best interests. If that is the case then the South African provinces simply have to rest and limit the workload of the top players.

They don’t like to do that a they pay salaries and want to see a return on investment. But if they took a longer term view and helped build the depth in their sides, they’d be able to rest players and still field strong sides. Matfield did say in consultation with the Bulls medical side “It is likely that I won’t play in all the games in the tournament (super 14)”

I only hope that the players get enough rest. The one thing I never understand is putting them on the bench! That is hardly rest as you still have to prepare the same because you could go on in the first minute of a game.

Jake White’s resting of players in 2007 (as advised by prof Tim Noakes) proved to be a masterstroke. I just hope we’ve learnt the lessons of a successful campaign and don’t run all our top players into the ground. If we’re at our peak we can become the first nation to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup!