The Springboks arrived back in South Africa on Tuesday from their end-of-season tour knowing they face an equally taxing schedule next year. And the Super 12 teams start training at the beginning of January, giving them less than a month to recover from all the bruises and bashes of 2000.

The Boks, who played 11 Tests this year, have a provisional schedule of 10 Tests for 2001. Eight of the Tests will be against the world's strongest teams - Australia (2), New Zealand (2), France (3) and England - with only a home and away Test against Italy offering less demanding opposition.

The Stormers begin their preparations for the 2001 Super 12 in earnest on January 7, with a week-long training camp in George.

The Bulls, under new coach Phil Pretorius, have been hard at work for a while already and took a short break from December 13. On January 3, a gruelling police survival course faces Boks Joost van der Westhuizen (pictured), Victor Matfield, Gavin Passens and Johan Wasserman. The course is intended to shock the underperforming Bulls, who have won two matches in the Super 12 the last two years, out of their comfort zone.

"They (Boks) will have enjoyed the same length of break as the other players in my squad. We have spoken with all of them and they have indicated their willingness to get back into action," said Pretorius.

"To be fair, I don't think that they are in danger of being overworked. Joost is the only one who played in the Tests on tour and he missed plenty of rugby last season due to injury.

"In any event, if the Boks miss out on any training, they will fall behind in certain aspects and might not catch up. I cannot afford that."

Pretorius, while acknowledging that the rugby season is not ideally structured, doesn't buy into the commonly held belief that the players are overworked.

"I can understand that a six-week tour at the end of a season can be very hard and takes a lot out of the players. I really hope that we can work towards a season that starts with the Currie Cup, moves on to the Super 12 and then takes in Test matches.

"But I also feel, without sounding too harsh, that we are dealing with professional athletes who play rugby for a living. Think of the normal guy who also works throughout the year and gets maybe 15 days off. The players will say that they deal with unique physical and mental pressures, which is true to an extent.

"But no matter what job you have, whether it's as a plumber, doctor or teacher, you deal with stress and fatigue. You get tired, but you just have to carry on."

Springbok doctor Frans Verster, who has travelled with the Boks on every tour since isolation ended in 1992, was quoted recently as saying that "there are too many matches. The players just don't get the time to recover. Twenty games in a season would be ideal, but it's more like 30 to 40 now."

Pretorius is loath to disregard Verster's viewpoint. Rather, he believes more studies need to be conducted in an attempt to ascertain exactly what the players' physical and mental limitations are.

"I believe we can't wrap the players in cotton wool, but I am not going to argue with the opinion of a seasoned medical professional. We need to do proper medical research to ensure that we don't overtax the players.

"But the fact remains that the players are paid to play and paid well. And we are living in a modern society in which most people have to earn their keep the hard way."

Still, the attrition rate is high in the Super 12. And one hopes our best Boks will all be battle-ready when the French arrive in June, as their victory over the All Blacks in Marseille showed that they pose as big a threat as England did.