John Dobson says it’s “logical” for the Rugby Championship to align with the Six Nations to alleviate the pressure on local franchises. DYLAN JACK reports.

The DHL Stormers director of rugby was speaking during a wide-ranging press conference at Cape Town Stadium on Monday, where he provided an update on his team’s preparations for the upcoming Vodacom URC season.

A groundbreaking player welfare deal between players and employers – which allowed the Currie Cup to go ahead as scheduled – meant that senior Stormers players have taken an eight-week rest period during the Currie Cup and haven’t been available to play for DHL Western Province.

The Currie Cup was under threat as employers and player representatives tussled over how best to accommodate the tournament into the congested season.

Western Province have taken the route of fully backing their youth, with last weekend’s team that faced the Sharks XV featuring several U21 players and teenagers Kyle Smith and Gino Cupido in midfield.

Stormers chief executive Johan le Roux supported the approach, but added during the press conference that the Rugby Championship needs to align with the Six Nations to alleviate some of the pressure of managing players through the season.

“The Currie Cup in it’s own window makes sense,” Le Roux said. “It will be diluted if it’s played concurrently with other tournaments.

“The biggest elephant in the room is the Rugby Championship and the Six Nations not being in the same window. That just makes the scheduling of other competitions very difficult and shortens the Currie Cup window.

“If you align the seasons by playing those two at the same time, there’s enough time left in the season to have a Currie Cup away from the other competitions, while having enough time to rest the URC squad.”

Dobson agreed and said that while the Stormers have tried to be proactive with managing their players, the current 12-month season can’t continue as it is.

“It is a concern. A lot of that resting was logical, but we are trying to be proactive and get a step ahead by resting more than we thought, not risking a situation where we have to play in the Six Nations window and Neethling Fouche’s on three-weeks [rest].

“We were trying to really be proactive. Firstly from a genuine player welfare view and trying to get ahead of the regulations.

“But it still seems a little uncertain. Is it eight consecutive weeks? Is it three-plus-three-plus-two? Can you split the three out? What does it look like next year?

“My only hope is in our proactivity. It’s unsustainable to have a 12-month programme with that Test window. There are one or two guys we have called in a week early, because we are running out of cattle.

“It is a challenge. We are ahead of it at the moment. It’s logically not a sustainable situation.”

Photo: Ziyaad Douglas/Gallo Images