Lions prepared for altitude

THE Lions’ planning for today’s showdown did not begin last Sunday, after the 26-21 first Test defeat in Durban, but two years ago and it took them via the Pittsburgh Steelers to Pretoria.

The Lions medical staff have worked with experts from the NFL franchise in a bid to minimise the impact playing at altitude will have on the squad at Loftus Versfeld.

Pretoria is nearly 5,000 feet above sea level and some of the players, Ronan O’Gara in particular, struggled with conditions on the highveld earlier in the tour.

But doctor Gary O’Driscoll is confident the research the Lions medical team have been doing will ensure the players are as well prepared as possible in their attempt to level the Test series. “We started looking into the altitude research two years ago. We have been to America, we have been in contact with the English Institute of Sport and the Australians with their Super 14 network,” said O’Driscoll.

“We had advice from the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have done previous training camps and tried to simulate conditions to make their footballers more explosive.”

The Lions began their tour with a fortnight on the highveld, allowing the medics to assess those players who are susceptible to altitude symptoms of nausea, dizziness, sleep loss and dehydration.

Those players have since been training with special oxygen-limiting masks to ensure they do not lose the acclimatisation earned in those first two weeks. And the Lions left it until yesterday to fly from Cape Town to Pretoria to minimise the effects.

O’Driscoll explained: “The medical science points to two options. The first one is to go to altitude and stay there for two weeks to allow your body to acclimatise.

“The other option is to play your event as quickly as you can to avoid the short-term effects, which start to manifest themselves after 36-48 hours.

“By spending two weeks earlier in the tour we know the players who struggle with the acclimatisation process. We have put those players on a hypoxic treatment protocol.

“By flying this afternoon and playing within 24 hours we avoid the short-term effects. We have managed it in an optimum way.”

The Springboks, nine of whom are based at sea-level, only flew to Pretoria on Monday although they will be more used to playing at altitude from Super 14 and Currie Cup rugby.

The third Test next weekend is in Johannesburg, which is even higher above sea level.

“In an ideal world the Lions would have been in a position to choose where they played and when. You could have a cynical hat on and say things haven’t worked out for us,” said O’Driscoll.

“But South Africa only went up on Monday and they haven’t received the optimal preparation.”