If the Springboks' year-end tour last November taught us anything it was that the country?s leading rugby players are playing too much rugby. The South African Rugby Union (Saru) obviously knows something the rest of us do not? why else would they organise a Grand Slam tour the year before the Rugby World Cup.

Saru, of course, do not know something the rest of us do not. That was my attempt at sarcasm. The people who run rugby in this country refuse to listen to the experts such as like Professor Tim Noakes and Professor Ross Tucker, who both continue to stress the importance of rest.

Not only do Saru President Oregan Hoskins and his colleagues refuse to listen to the gentlemen mentioned above, but they also refuse to see what is staring them in the face.

The Boks were visibly shattered at the end of last season. World class performers such as like Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha and others were dead on their feet. Others such as Juan Smith and Pierre Spies could not even make the tour as injuries, after a hellish season, began to take their toll.

Last year the Boks only played three Test matches. They lost two ? against France and Ireland ? and struggled to beat a very ordinary Italian side. You would have thought the big-wigs at Saru would be looking to avoid a rigorous schedule in 2010, particularly when you consider next year is a World Cup year.

But the lure of money has again proved too much for them. The rugby calendar is already overcrowded with fixtures. The Springboks will be shattered come November, but with a Grand Slam tour on the cards they will travel with their best team to the Northern Hemisphere.

The Boks will face current Six Nations champions Ireland in Dublin on 6 November, Wales in Cardiff on 13 November, Scotland in Edinburgh, seven days later, before meeting England at Twickenham on 27 November. Oh, and just for good measure, they will play the Barbarians too?

Bok coach Peter de Villiers is not a supporter of the tour and why would he be? It will be De Villiers who will carry the can for any losses and if the team comes unstuck during the World Cup the following year he will be the prime target of the supporters.

De Villiers believes the timing of the tour is all wrong. The World Cup is the biggest tournament in rugby (don?t let the All Blacks tell you anything different) and nothing else matters in a World Cup year. The Bok coach needs to ensure his players are in the best possible shape when the tournament begins in September and it is unsurprising that he is upset by the schedule this season.

There are not many options available to De Villiers. He could rest the Boks during the Currie Cup this season, but that would be too early ? there is still the 2011 Super 14 and Tri-Nations to follow and good luck convincing the Super 14 coaches to leave their Boks out for the entire season.

That would leave the Tri-Nations, but it would be foolish to try and rest the team so close to the big occasion because it would leave them cold when the big day arrives.

The last time the Springboks won a Grand Slam was in 1961 when captain Avril Malan's side achieved the feat on a four-month tour of Europe. There is a reason we have not done it in over 40 years? it?s bloody hard.

I am not against a Grand Slam tour, but like De Villiers, I think the timing is ridiculous. Of all the years Saru could organise it, 2010 is easily the worst, which is probably why they have chosen to do so, because when have they ever made the right choice?