How very strange – a series of rugby matches with nothing at stake

It might sound a bit nuts for the general person on the street to enter a national competition when there’s nothing to play for.

Nothing means there’s no cup, no title and really, no bragging rights, at stake. It’s literally a “competition”, or rather a series of matches, with the focus on preparation, hence the name “Preparation Series.”

In the past one would simply have called them pre-season matches, or friendlies, in the buildup to the proper season, but the chaotic year which was 2020 has lead us to a whole new rugby landscape.

With each team playing only four matches, the focus is more on conditioning, and giving players in the wider training groups exposure, and to build depth, for the Rainbow Cup and the international season which will hopefully follow.

With the win-at-all-costs scenario probably taking a back seat, much of the focus will be on speeding up the game, referees asked to monitor time-wasting at scrum-time and at kickoffs and kicking at goal. It’s about time, too.

But while the idea behind this series of matches was to prepare teams and players for the international season, most of the country’s top players, and the Springbok players in particular, have been rested for the opening round.

However, it is only a few weeks since the 2020 season wrapped up, and the players have needed time off after a pretty demanding late 2020 and early 2021. Being in good shape and condition for the year ahead is going to be vital.

The Lions players, for example, only returned to the field for their first training sessions on Monday – and they didn’t even play in the Currie Cup final at the end of last month – and may only feature in the last two games of this preparation series.

One team that is expected to find the going tough, no matter who plays, are the EP Elephants.

Coached by former Bok mentor Peter de Villiers, the team comprising mostly semi-professional and club players could be on the receiving end of a few big scores, and one wonders how this might impact the players’ mental states.

With their lack of experience they could even find it hard to hold their own when they enter the First Division again in a few months’ time and big losses for this team would probably serve no purpose at all.

But the Eastern Cape has always been a source of great talent in this country, and giving players some exposure is probably not the worst thing, but the timing of their recall to “big-time rugby” is not ideal.

Rudolph Jacobs

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