Nick Easter believes that teams in tri-nations will be exhausted by 2011 Rugby World Cup
England national rugby union team’s number eight, Nick Easter, has hinted that the excessive rugby being played by Southern Hemisphere teams will leave them “overcooked” by the start of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). The number eight made the comments during
an interview on Monday, July 4.
Easter is of the opinion that the Southern Hemisphere teams which includes Australia, 2011 RWC hosts New Zealand and the defending champions South Africa are playing too much rugby just before Rugby’s premier tournament.
Easter further added that after the relatively prolonged 2011 Super Rugby season, Southern Hemisphere squads should not be playing at all in the upcoming 2011 Tri Nations series. The 2011 Super Rugby season is ending on Saturday, July 9 after the final between
the Reds and Crusaders; while the Tri Nations tournament will kick start from July 23.
Easter commented that even the reduced Tri Nations format, is tough for players and teams and will affect their World Cup preparation. South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia Rugby (SANZAR) have reduced the number of matches to four in 2011 Tri Nations
because they do not want to over work player immediately before the RWC.
SANZAR itself is aware of the fact that the extended 2011 Super Rugby season followed by the Tri Nations tournament between the world top three rugby sides can take a heavy toll on players. Additionally, the players can be injured, or recovering players
can sustain injuries that would take them out of the 2011 RWC campaign.
Easter said, “I am surprised they're playing the Tri-Nations, I hope it leaves them tired, they might be a little over-cooked, for us it's just like a normal season.”
Easter also compared the Southern Hemisphere team’s preparations with the Northern Hemisphere teams. He added that most of the domestic competitions and European competitions ended in the last week of the May or in the first week of June.
In addition to this, the Northern Hemisphere team’s last international engagement came in the month of the March in which the six international teams were involved in the 2011 RBS Six Nations tournament.
Easter further added, “We (England) don't have any rugby match now until the first warm-up game in August, so we have a good window to train hard and get prepared properly.”
When asked about England being placed in a relatively tougher pool as compared to the other pools of the 2011 RWC, Easter replied, “Absolutely you want a challenging pool, You don't want it too tough obviously because you could end up giving everything just
to get out of it.”
Easter further added that tough games help teams to be better prepared for the knockout stages of the tournament.
England will play their first game of the 2011 RWC against the Argentina on September 10 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin.
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