Injury Management

Rene NaylorRene Naylor is a highly-skilled sports physiotherapist with over 15 years experience. She completed her B.Sc. (Physiotherapy) degree at the University of the Western Cape in 1993, and in 2004 obtained a post-graduate degree in Sports Physiotherapy at the University of Cape Town.

Since then she has worked almost exclusively with rugby players from club to international level in her current role as head physiotherapist to current rugby world champions, the Springboks. Her core responsibilities include the treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of injuries.She is also responsible for musculoskeletal evaluations and recommendations for the Springbok squad and has authored injury prevention and rehab manuals that are used extensively within the sport.

She began work as a physiotherapist at the Conradie Hospital in Cape Town in 1993. She set up a private practice in 1996, which still operates today. Her initial involvement in rugby was with the Silvertree Rugby Club between 1998 and 2004.Between 2002 and 2004 she worked with the Western Province Rugby Football Union’s (WPRFU) Under-19 and Under-20 teams. In 2005 she was appointed Head Physiotherapist at the WPRFU where she worked with the Western Province and Stormers senior professional teams in the Currie Cup and Super 14 respectively.

In 2008 Rene was appointed as Head Physiotherapist to the Springboks, a contract that runs until the next Rugby World Cup in 2011.