Players in Europe off the pace, says Springboks’ fitness guru

SOUTH AFRICA’S conditioning coach Neels Liebel claimed yesterday he had proof to show northern hemisphere rugby was slower than the game played in the southern hemisphere.

Liebel said the new global positioning system (GPS) the Springboks are using to track the movement of players during games and training had proved those based in Europe were behind the pace of locally-based internationals.

De Villiers has fielded five Europe-based players this season – props CJ van der Linde (Leinster) and BJ Botha (Ulster), No. 8 Joe van Niekerk (Toulon), full-back Francois Steyn (Racing Metro) and fly-half Butch James (Bath).