All the Globe Jet-setters might be more qualified to write an article like this. So let me try my hand on a subject I never experienced, in fact I have never left this beautiful country. Mozambique is only 200 kilometers to the East from where I live. Botswana and Zimbabwe not even 400 kilometers away, never been there. So take my words with a pinch of salt.
The travel factor is part and parcel of the Super Rugby Competition. Teams are constantly on the move. Traveling from South Africa to Australasia is tougher than the other way around – well, that was the accepted norm. The travel factor between New Zealand and Australia is not an issue, well one never hears complaints from that perspective.
The Bulls believe that traveling late is the way to go. The first game in Australasia they won might prove they have it spot on. The problem is the backlash of a week later, they have lost EVERY second game on tour.
To really understand the Bulls approach, one can read Dewalt Potgieter’s articles on Supersport.
We only left South Africa on a Tuesday night flight, and we arrived in Napier sometime during Thursday afternoon.
The 16, 3 and 1 hour flights we had to take to get us there were pretty exhausting, especially since I brought Babaganoosh, my guitar, along for the trip; and it left us with only Friday to have our Captain’s run before the game. Many people wonder if this is the best way to go about the travel, but it’s something that has worked for us the past three years.
We also try to stay on South African time as best we can, which means that we only go to bed at about 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, local time, and wake up around one or two in the afternoon. Our training regime has been moved to the late afternoons to accommodate this.
The Reds have a different approach to this travel monster, they left as soon as possible after the Stormers game. They started training 12 hours after they arrived.
Coach Ewen McKenzie said that it was part of their routine.
“We have done it in the past as well and it has worked well for us”
The Bulls paid more attention to rest early in the week, team doctor Org Strauss has said yesterday before the game against the Reds.
“Our policy with regards Mondays on tour is that it’s the day for recovery. The guys with injury niggles are managed and physiotherapy is prioritised,” he wrote on the Bulls’ website.
“Most of the guys slept late on Monday morning and others took it easy in the morning. In the afternoon there was a video session where we analysed the weekend’s game and after that the squad went to the gym
“In the evening we had a braai at the hotel for the traditional Monday night team get-together, which the players really enjoyed. Most of the players went to bed early to rest for the next two days’ hard training.”
Although football teams of all codes usually have one rest day in their training week, and possibly two when lengthy travel is involved, McKenzie feels short, sharp sessions late in the day work best to get his players back up.
“We experimented with it last year and it worked pretty well against the Bulls and we did the same in Johannesburg and it also worked out all right,” he told AAP after returning home.
“There’s no day off but just a little bit of training each day – we’ll just get into it.
Last year, the Reds arrived back in Brisbane later than the visiting Bulls and won 19-12.
The one team that a spoils all theories about rest and travel is the Crusaders. But then again they are the best in everything, whether they play in Christchurch or Timbuktu they are always a step ahead of the rest. With the highest win percentage of 65.7% they are in a different class and whatever they do will always skew any theory. I would have loved to add their thoughts on travel. Anyone out there with views from the Crusaders share the secrets with us , Please.
I would think that mental approach and attitude is a bigger factor than the travel monster.
Psychologically the week may feel shorter because of the travelling back in time, so in my opinion the first week of travel there should be more focus on physical rest and psycological issues.
A team that is confident and mentally focussed will make less mistakes and therefor create less opportunities for their opposition on match day.
Why is it that we show such poor skills and execution when we travel?
Do they miss their mommies?
Do they feel nobody wants to play with them?
Suck it up, and get your attitudes right.
2006
Bulls 31 Western force 20
Bulls 17 Blues 30
Bulls 26 Chiefs 26
Bulls 19 Reds 20
Not one of the teams they played away got in the top 6 of the log.
2007
Bulls 19 Brumbies 7
Bulls 32 Waratahs 19
Bulls 10 Crusaders 32
Bulls 22 Highlanders 13
Bulls 9 Hurricanes 17
The Crusaders and Brumbies ended in the top 6 of the log.
2008
Bulls 8 Reds 40
Bulls 27 Chiefs 43
Bulls 21 Blues 23
Bulls 14 Western Force 15
Not one win overseas
2009
Bulls 19 Hurricanes 14
Bulls 12 Highlanders 36
Bulls 13 Crusader 16
Bulls 20 Waratahs 6
Bulls 31 Brumbies 32
Great result for Bulls most of the teams they played away was in the top 6
2010
Bulls 28 Western Force 15
Bulls 17 Blues 32
Bulls 33 Chiefs 19
Bulls 12 Reds 19
Only the Reds were in the top 6.
The Bulls our most succesful travelling team has only won 8 of 22 matches and 1 draw, that is a success rate of 38%. Woeful for SA teams.
Week 2 on Tour has been a massive problem for the Bulls, throughout the years…. so let’s hope the bad loss to the Saders was a week 2 glitch and not much more.
… but the Bulls whole attitude and pattern and every game this season’s error-rates have been bad…
This bus has to be turned around, and quickly!
Professional sport demands that you get the very best professional help and advice needed in any area that may affect performance.
Find the world’s best authority on this subject and take his guidance and advice.
This is what a professional team manager and coach would do.
Instead it sounds like some people just stumble along from one unsubtantiated theory to the next.
Hmm. Interesting article. Undoubtedly there are different ways to approach the problem, and I’m sure that most will have some form of success.
I traveled extensively almost non-stop for 2 years albeit mainly to Europe and the UK and my experience is that the problem is almost exclusively a mental one.
I would work a full day, travel through the night, (OK bus’ class) get off the plane and travel to a 09h00 meeting the next day.
I can assure you that myself and my colleagues are no party poopers and make sure that we indulged significantly on Virgin’s bar stocks. (Even though the only Captain on the airplane is the one in the flight deck.)
After a full day’s work “on the other side”, there was an almighty amount of socialising and carrying on, with rarely more than 5 hours sleep.
So, given that the sportsmen travelling the globe will be on strict diets, travel at least bus’ class and certainly get more than 6 hours sleep a night one must assume that they are in peak physical condition, and therefore I conclude that the 8 inches of muscle between the ears is the one preventing better performances.
Oh and as Biltongbek points out, some of them may be missing their Mommies. But that’s mental as well.
The thing is, at this level of the game you only need to be 5 or 10% off your game to be out of it. Most of us who travel for business etc don’t feel that difference but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
I was told by one of the players that little things like disrupted sleep (waking up at 3 in the morning and then struggling to sleep for example) make a difference the next day, you simply aren’t yourself. This is obviously most prevalent where you are travelling east and “lose” time.
That, combined with the other “away” aspects will certainly make a difference.
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