Erasmus calls for international calendar rethink as player workload fears grow

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks and Argentina are facing similar player-welfare pressures and believes a more closely aligned international rugby calendar could help reduce the risk of burnout.

Erasmus was speaking after naming his team for Saturday’s Test against Argentina, when he was asked about Los Pumas being without several players for the match because their European clubs had requested that they be rested.

The issue has highlighted the competing demands placed on international players who are also contracted to clubs in Europe. Erasmus suggested that changing the timing of major international competitions could offer a possible solution.

“I’m not scared or shy to say that I think the schedule of the Rugby Championship or Greatest Rivalry… why that can’t be moved to February, to the Six Nations block?” Erasmus said.

“So I think syncing the international calendar, but I mean, there’s lots of logistical things and problems that I probably don’t know about and understand because I’m not 100% in the boardrooms and so on.”

The South Africa coach acknowledged that there would be practical difficulties involved in restructuring the calendar, but argued that greater coordination between international competitions could benefit players and teams.

Both Argentina and South Africa have selected their teams with workload management in mind for this weekend’s fixture. Erasmus said Argentina are expected to be missing about 15 players, while the Springboks also have roughly 15 players unavailable.

“I guess this weekend we also have… I think Argentina’s got like 15 players out, and we’ve got about 15 players out. And so we are going the route by rotating and keeping guys fresh, and then hopefully in the crunch matches when it gets to World Cup times or Nations Cup playoff times or Greatest Rivalry times, then hopefully we peak,” Erasmus said.

Rotation, he added, was necessary to ensure players could remain effective during the most important periods of the season. Erasmus said Felipe Contepomi’s decision-making with Argentina was similar to the approach being taken by South Africa.

“So I think us and Argentina are more or less in the same boat. And if you don’t rotate like Felipe [Contepomi] is doing this weekend, and we are doing this weekend, then the players will definitely burn out.”

The comments come as international sides continue to balance preparation for major tournaments with the demands of domestic and European club rugby. Erasmus’s proposal would require the Rugby Championship or Greatest Rivalry to be staged during the same period as the Six Nations in February, although he admitted he was not fully aware of all the logistical and administrative challenges such a change would involve.

Saturday’s match between Argentina and South Africa kicks off at 21:10.