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Cape Town - Springbok coach Allister Coetzee says there needs to be a better way to manage foreign-based players.
The coach included a considerable amount of foreign-based players in their November tour of Europe, leading to plenty of criticism for not prioritising South African based players. The strategy didn't work either after three losses to England, Italy and Wales.
"This tour has taught us a couple of hard lessons, for instance about the involvement of overseas players. You don’t know in what condition they will arrive, only one week before a Test match," Coetzee said.
"They are still very good players, but somehow we have to get a better system of how to monitor players who are playing abroad. Otherwise we have to relook their involvement, but that is a policy decision that is currently under discussion by SA Rugby."
But Coetzee was satisfied with the amount of talent that were given debuts this year and said the Springboks will reap the benefits of blooding several new players during the past season.
Eleven players made their Test debut for the Springboks during the past season, as part of a group of 48 players in total that were used in the three matches against Ireland, the Rugby Championship and the November Tour to the UK and Italy.
"Those players did well in domestic competitions and we had to give them playing opportunities to see how they would perform in test match conditions," said Coetzee.
"You don’t want to do that a year before the World Cup, for instance, so in that regard I am pleased that those players now understand what is required of them to perform at international level."
