Bulls' loss is a blessing

It might sound like a classic case of sour grapes from Gauteng, but the Bulls losing out on that final Super 15 play-off spot may have been a blessing in disguise.

I can just about hear a few of you saying: "Yeah right, the Bulls didn't want to win yet another Super rugby title as a farewell gift to their legendary players ."

But the point I'm making is that, if the Bulls make up the core of the Springbok team to defend the World Cup, then maybe it is not such a bad thing that they will play no further part in what is proving to be an interminable tournament.

There was a time when Super rugby finished in mid-May to afford the Tri-Nations coaches a couple of weeks to prepare for their incoming tours from northern hemisphere sides.

Now we're three weeks into June, but the Super 15 has only just entered its business end.

To gain an insight into how brutal this extended season has been, consider that the Reds, who should have won the title after 16 games, might be making up the numbers in the semifinals because they are so decimated by injuries that they recruited a retired Caleb Ralph to play for them last week.

Rugby players have played with niggles for ages, but to see Tatafu Polota-Nau needing medical attention after every move in the game against the Brumbies last week, drove the point home.

An example of how Sanzar never quite factored in the ramifications of making the season longer every time they negotiated a new contract with News Limited is the current squabble over which players qualify to play in the play-offs.

It never occurred to the suits that extending a 15-game season to 19 matches - with an extra four murderous derbies thrown in - would mean the teams needed squads of closer to 45 than the current 30 allowed to compete.

If anything, the Sanzar officials have done as much as anyone to ensure that the northern hemisphere sides have their best opportunity to win the World Cup since 2003.

There's a fine line between being battle-hardened and battle-weary, and a Super rugby season which ends in May constitutes the former, while one which ends on July 9 leans towards the latter.

If a South African team makes it to the final, they will have two weeks before the Tri-Nations starts and another two after it to prepare for the World Cup.

Many will point to the Bulls and the Sharks contesting the 2007 Super 14 final as having been instrumental in the Boks winning that World Cup.

But the timing this time is such that there is no way the players can peak again.

Contrast that with the northern hemisphere sides, whose season ended last month.

By the time the World Cup rolls around, they will have had time for active rest; a reconditioning phase; and any number of friendlies.

Now the Bulls themselves may disagree with the notion that they need rest, but three of them, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw and Victor Matfield, have reached that age where they need to be monitored carefully.

Fourie du Preez needs to allow his knee to heal properly because it certainly appeared it hadn't against the Sharks last weekend, where he seemed to limp from ruck to ruck.

Morne Steyn needs to reacquaint himself with his wife's face and see less of his kicking coach Vlok Cilliers.

So the Bulls watching the Super 15 semifinals on TV for the first time in years may not be such a bad thing for South African rugby.