Australia have plans to rest key Wallabies during next year’s Super Rugby competition to ensure they are fresh and injury-free ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
According to Fox Sports in Australia, an agreement in principle has been reached between Rugby Australia and the four Super Rugby franchises.
The agreement is based on a New Zealand programme that ensures top players are managed and given time off during Super Rugby. It is mandatory for All Blacks players to miss at least two games in the Super Rugby season.
‘What we’ve committed to is developing individual plans for our top players,’ Rugby Australia’s high performance manager Ben Whitaker explained.
‘That will be a process formed between national team staff and the respective Super Rugby staff of the player, and that will be the full gamut of things around programming, load management, training and playing.
‘I don’t know if it will be exactly the same or copying New Zealand, but we will certainly be managing the individual players together and that will incorporate periods of rest.’
Photo: Joosep Matinson/Getty Images
