Rugby players feel the heat

Hurricanes wing Sereli Bobo takes in much-needed fluids. Picture / Brett Phibbs

It's hot, humid and sunny, and the rugby season is about to kick off. Not that this is anything unusual, but due to its expansion to the Super 14 this year, the series is starting a fortnight earlier.

It officially launches on February 10, but pre-season games have already started and concern has been raised about exposing players to strenuous activity for hours in the heat of the summer.

"Water depletion is a major issue for these guys," said Lannes Johnson, medical director of HealthWEST.

"If they get hyperthermic and their body temperature goes up, it's quite dangerous and can be pretty nasty."

The average maximum temperatures in the Super 14 teams' base cities vary from 19C in Dunedin (Highlanders) to 30C in Perth (Force).

"In 30C-plus temperatures, your body has a terrible time maintaining a core temperature of 37C, let alone dealing with this huge heat load from exercise," Dr Johnson said.

"The games should be shorter, with more breaks in between - not so good for the TV viewers - and they should have to replace their fluids as they go as they do in marathon running."

But other experts, such as David Galler, disagree, saying the players are shielded from harm in a bubble of physiotherapists, nutritionists and hydrationists.

Dr Galler, an intensive care specialist at Middlemore Hospital, even suggests the hard summer surfaces pose a greater threat than the risk of heat stroke.

"Think of the players at the Australian Open, playing for four hours in extreme conditions. These guys are professional athletes surrounded by a professional outfit ... I don't think there is a huge risk for them because they're managed so well."

Tim Noakes, co-founder of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town, says the hot conditions are a far smaller risk than the length of the rugby season.

"Humans can actually adapt quite well to the heat and the humidity," Dr Noakes says. "The extra games and the duration of the season are a much greater risk. We're definitely shortening their careers as a consequence.

"I was involved in the Korey Stringer case [an American gridiron player who died while training in 2001], and he was almost certainly genetically different. He died after eight minutes of football training - that's not heat stroke. "Those cases are all unusual circumstances. It's never the environment."

Dr Johnson has a special interest in sports activity in hot and humid conditions. He co-wrote a paper about the Round the Bays race that convinced organisers to have it in March instead of February.

"The Round the Bays was in far too hot a climate. Dozens of people were collapsing, getting extremely dehydrated during the run."

But Dr Noakes said a number of factors would have to come together to pose a health risk of heat stroke - a fit, larger player whose body had not adapted to hot conditions, such as a member of the Highlanders' front row.

And even then, the player would have to be pushing his body beyond what it could do.

Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora said: "You've got to manage it [the heat]. Certainly when we chose to go to the Sunshine Coast for a week in training we were well aware of the heat factors and that was a challenge for us and we have to manage the players really carefully, but I think that's quite a good base.

"You don't get many opportunities in this competition to pump hard work into the guys and we've had to use our time well leading into the competition.

"We have to use this time to try and get our fitness levels up and I think training in the heat has probably only been a positive for us so far."

"I don't really think it's affected us," Nucifora said, "but then again even the two games in Australia we played in warm conditions, but there weren't any real shockers. Mind you, round 3 is back in Brisbane in February so it could be a bit warm again." 

 
Hot play

Average max temperatures for February (degrees C):

Auckland (Blues) 24
Wellington (Hurricanes) 21
Hamilton (Chiefs) 24
Christchurch (Crusaders) 22
Dunedin (Highlanders) 19
Sydney (Warratahs) 26
Canberra (Brumbies) 28
Brisbane (Reds) 29
Perth (Force) 30
Pretoria (Bulls) 28
Johannesburg (Cats) 25
Durban (Sharks) 25
Stormers (Cape Town) 26
Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) 27


Flying winger in fine trim

He's no longer a hair bear. All Black and Blues winger Doug Howlett, 28, has rebranded himself - the curly locks have been lopped. At Thursday night's pre-season Super 14 match at Eden Park between the Blues and the Western Force, Howlett trotted onto the field sporting a very close summer cut. At least there is no longer any chance that Howlett will be mistaken for the "Flying Fijian", 23-year-old Blues player Isa Nacewa, whose curls are remarkably Howlett-like.