Steven Kitshoff opens up on player welfare after life-threatening injury

The former Springbok star was forced to retire earlier this year after suffering a serious neck injury while playing for Western Province in the Currie Cup.

Kitshoff subsequently revealed that he was fortunate to still be alive having been 'two millimetres from death'.

In an interview with Off The Ball in Ireland, the legendary loosehead prop duly discussed what can be done to protect the players and make the game safer.

"Probably the biggest solution would be utilising the full squad. In the URC, you've got 45 to 50 players in a squad and I don't think all the teams actually rotate that well - they've got a key group of 23 players that they will always back for any given weekend," he said.

"I think giving younger okes more opportunities and being able to rotate players, there will be more breaks for the older, more senior players. That's probably the route I would follow.

"If I was in a coaching position, I would make sure that the youngsters and the more inexperienced guys would get more game time so you can rest an international player or you can rest a senior, older guy to make sure he's fresh for bigger games.

"I sometimes feel that's not the case. They back 25 players and always pick the same guys."

Leinster are a team that regularly rotates and the players appear to be benefiting from that strategy, with many Ireland stars producing high-quality performances well into their 30s.

"There are more guys injured these days, there are more guys on the sidelines. If you just think about the Stormers squad, at one stage I think they had 12 of their senior players on the sidelines due to injury," Kitshoff said.

"That's just purely based on volume and how physical the game has become in the last couple of years."

Kitshoff also believes that certain players are now having much more game time, adding: "The older crowd, if I think about myself and [Frans] Malherbe, we were used to playing 16 games of club rugby in a season and then went on to represent the Springboks maybe 13 times in a year.

"There was 30, 35 games a season, now it's almost 35 games just of URC [and Champions Cup] rugby, which is intense. On top of that, you've still got the international season coming up."

With individuals continuing to get better, as well as being bigger than they were, Kitshoff insisted that even he struggled to make an impact in the latter stages of his career.

"The amount of rugby has gotten so big and, on top of that, the quality of player is just getting better," he said.

"We used to play in Super Rugby, which was tough, but every now and then there was a weak link in the team that you could target and you didn't get hit that much.

"But with the modern game, it's line speeds, the way the guys carry the ball, the tackle entry, everything is becoming harder and more physical.

"The Springboks are used to it but then you get the guys from Ireland who also tackle the same way, also play the same style of rugby, and can also be quite dominant in certain aspects.

"The game is becoming more physical and the guys are getting fitter and bigger and stronger.

"It did feel like at one stage, even though I'm 125 kilos, I can't dominate like I did five years ago. The guys are just becoming stronger, fitter and more agile. I did start feeling it at the later stage of my career."

READ MORE: URC: Lions' playoff hopes take a hit in Cardiff thriller