Share

Good luck, Springboks. You’ll need it

accreditation

Cape Town - Heyneke Meyer’s 31-man Springbok Rugby World Cup squad is a hotchpotch of questionable thinking.

As predicted, the team falls short on transformation ideals and, from a purely rugby viewpoint, there are a number of questionable selections.

The outcry over Meyer – in spite of some selections that smack of window dressing – failing to meet transformation targets is surprising, as the coach, like his predecessors, has at no time in his tenure met what might have been termed acceptable numbers.

The Mind Games column on September 7 last year, titled “Meyer’s story, in black and white”, questioned whether the coach fully understood the imperatives of the country he lived in and that he was picking a rod for his own back.

Caught between the unforgiving historical demand that the Springboks have to win matches, and feeling that he was judged on that basis, Meyer consistently opted for experience and established players.

Until recently, when the Springboks lost two matches on their tour to the UK last year, and all three in the Rugby Championship, Meyer had an impressive record.

However, the losses – and the intensified focus on rugby brought about by the impending World Cup – switched attention to the issue of racial transformation.

Having not made more of an effort since becoming the national coach in 2012, and also not helped by low numbers of black players in Super Rugby teams, Meyer’s squad that will bid to claim the Webb Ellis Cup for the third time was predictable.

He managed to find room for eight players of colour – the inimitable Bryan Habana, Zane Kirchner, Siya Kolisi, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Trevor Nyakane, JP Pietersen and Rudy Paige.

Of these, Paige’s selection is the most obvious effort to balance the books, as he has not been given a chance in a single test match, even though he has been part of previous squads. Meyer has preferred Ruan Pienaar at scrum half with Cobus Reinach as the backup.

The race question dogging the Springboks has found impetus since former coach Peter de Villiers – who himself failed to meet the supposed goals – has been given a voice in the press.

De Villiers’ criticism has been harsh and he has been given support by the Transformation and Anti-racism Rugby Committee, a group whose constituency is unknown, but whose secretary and spokesperson is Asad Bhorat. A frequent racial agitator – the regional secretary of the Western Cape region of labour federation Cosatu, Tony Ehrenreich – is another member.

What is clear is that Meyer will be unable to meet the stipulations of the SA Rugby Union (Saru) that were set out in its Strategic Transformation Plan released in February this year.

It stated that it intends to increase black representation in the Springbok team to 50% by 2019 but added it would “engage with the national coach to increase black-player representation to 30% (seven players of colour in a match-day squad of 23). From the seven generic black players, two must be black African.”

Quite apart from the race considerations, Meyer has gambled on a raft of players who are not fully fit.

Skipper Jean de Villiers, still in the midst of reaching full fitness after knee-reconstruction surgery, now also has a broken jaw.

De Villiers, who is a Test centurion with his deputy Victor Matfield, has been entrusted with the captaincy of the World Cup squad.

With 107 caps to his name, he has fought back from severe setbacks to lead the team. The formerly retired Matfield holds the record for test appearances for the Boks – with 123. Schalk Burger can provide captaincy backup should he be needed. Bryan Habana, with 110 caps, is the third centurion in the squad.

But Duane Vermuelen is recovering from neck surgery and Fourie du Preez has not seen any action since February. Others, such as Francois Louw, Willie le Roux and Coenie Oosthuizen, are also carrying injuries and the coaching team has admitted that some of these players may not be ready until the second match of the tournament on September 16 – against the tough tacklers of Samoa.

Lady Luck will have to smile on this team for all its optimistic plans to fall into place.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
City Press aims to deliver quality journalism to our readers. We aim to bring you groundbreaking news across different beats of the publication. Which beat do you enjoy reading most from us?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
News
64% - 119 votes
Politics
24% - 44 votes
Entertainment
2% - 3 votes
Opinion
5% - 9 votes
Sports
6% - 11 votes
Vote