After a disappointing Tri-Nations campaign, South Africa need to start planning their run-up to the World Cup and decide whether to rest senior players, captain John Smit said.

“It’s always tricky deciding when to rest players and it’s very difficult to rest a whole group of players; it’s something you need to do on an individual basis,” said Smit, who has faced criticism that he is tired and out of condition from playing too much rugby.

“We haven’t spent too much time on it; we’ve had a pretty disappointing time in the Tri-Nations so that’s what we’ve been focusing on.

“But we’ll do some planning in the next couple of weeks, plotting our road to the World Cup,” Smit, a veteran of 101 tests, told a news conference.

South Africa, who face Australia in their final Tri-Nations fixture on Saturday after four defeats in their five previous games, tour Britain and Ireland in November and December.

“The fact that it is a Grand Slam tour does complicate matters; you’re not going to give that up easily,” said Smit.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers supports a scientific approach to the management of his players’ workloads and the South African Rugby Union’s (SARU) medical advisors have already said the senior members of the squad need to be rested if they are to be fresh for next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

Professor Tim Noakes, a leading South African sports scientist who was a member of the management team for the triumphant 2007 World Cup campaign, told the City Press newspaper recently that a heavy workload was probably partly responsible for the Springboks’ poor Tri-Nations performance.

“The players appeared to be emotionally and physically drained. They were sluggish and this is either because they are too old, too unfit or they are tired. I hope someone makes the correct diagnosis of which one it is,” Noakes said.

“If a player is over-stressed, they can’t run as fast, although they may cover the same distance. It’s speed they lose, so they can’t get around the field as well.”

Noakes said his research had shown that the threshold for game time was between 1400 and 1600 minutes before players needed a rest; Smit has totted up nearly 2000 minutes this season, including the Super 14.

The Springboks will end their year with Tests against Ireland in Dublin on Nov. 6, Wales in Cardiff on Nov. 13, Scotland at Murrayfield on Nov. 20 and England at Twickenham on Nov. 27. They also face the Barbarians on Dec. 4.