This week one of South Africa's former rugby coaches came out saying the current coach Rassie Erasmus is devaluing the Springbok jersey by capping too many players. This could be argued that Jake White has a point, but then again Jake White has the record of capping the most players during his 4 year tenure when in charge being 50 between 2004 and 2007.
Rassie Erasmus has been in charge of the South African Rugby team since 2018 having won 2 World Cups back to back in the process. Erasmus has handed out more than 45 test caps to players with his very first game handing 13 players their first match. This I agree is not normal, but then when he took charge of the national team the results and standards were dire.
If we look back over the history since 1829 till now 958 South African rugby players have been capped which is an average of less than 10 per year. Times have certainly changed since then so one can hardly compare as players back then may have played 3 international matches per season due the time it took to travel by boat.
Since when Jake White was in charge the game has progressed because back then which is only 20 years ago the substitutes bench was used for replacing injured players. These days the substitute bench is tactical with the entire bench being used as impact players to freshen the team up in the latter stages of the match.
Yes I agree with the sentiment that more players are being capped so theoretically the jersey is easier to obtain than it was 50 years ago. 50 years ago those players would struggle with todays game and tempo so one cannot compare past with present. The other side of the coin is the value in monetary terms is the Springbok jersey with all the success the team has had is riding an economic wave and has never been more valuable than what it is currently.
The team is no longer just the 15 players picked for the match and is a 45 man squad effort. Training camps can have as many as 60 players attending which lessens the impact when a player decides to retire as you have two or three players of similar standards and skill sets covering each position.
My personal view is the value of the Springbok jersey has increased due to the performances on the pitch. The winning of the last two World Cups highlights a system that is working and the depth and handling of the players careers and welfare is a crucial part of this. A larger squad enables players to extend their careers way past their sell by date due to less game time allowing them to remain injury free playing an extra few years.
When you consider a top international rugby player will average 35-38 matches per season between international and franchise club commitments that is a hell of a work load and is very stressful on the body. I can recall our normal season would be around 25 matches and that was tough enough over a 6 month period yet todays players are playing for up to 10 months of the year so the season has extended due to demand.
The reality is one needs a squad with depth to rotate all the players or you will end up with a long injury list because the demands of today are unsustainable otherwise. Having a feeder type system freshening up the squad is always going to guarantee you the top players are always available and why it works. Players are having the equivalent game time minutes that players used to have 20 years ago, but it is just being managed by data and spreadsheets.