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Cape Town - Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen has revealed his frustration at the current state of affairs within South African rugby and hit out at the game's administrators.
The Boks suffered a humiliating 57-15 defeat to the All Blacks in their final Rugby Championship fixture, in Durban at the weekend - a result which left the 30-year-old angry and unhappy.
Vermeulen, who plies his trade at Toulon in the French Top 14, revealed that it's difficult to return to South Africa because of the way rugby is being administered in the country.
He is willing to help find a solution to the problems though.
"I want to be part of the Boks but the way things are going now I can't see a positive outcome," Vermeulen told TimesLIVE.
"We need an intervention and I can't sit silently on the side and say nothing anymore. I feel it's always the coaches that have their say in a team environment and as a player there is no time to focus and to talk about issues in SA rugby. We only focus on the game itself. I feel the need to speak up, for the players.
"I still want to play, be a part of the best players in the country and represent the Boks with all I have. But at the moment I can't see why players would commit 100%. That's a huge problem. Where did everything go wrong? It was ugly watching the game on Saturday."
SA Rugby announced on Tuesday that former Springbok centre Brendan Venter will lead a coaching indaba (conference) next week aimed at finding solutions to the Boks' current woes.
CEOs and coaching staff of all six South African Super Rugby franchises have been invited to attend the two-day event - which will be held in Cape Town - in conjunction with Springbok coaching staff and former Springbok coaches and players.
Vermeulen is in favour of the indaba, but wants it to be taken seriously.
He also called on sports minister Fikile Mbalula to actively get involved in planning a better future for the national team.
Vermeulen, who has played 37 Tests for the Boks since making his debut in 2012, will be available for selection for South Africa’s year-end tour to Europe next month.
He will miss the Barbarians clash at Wembley on November 5, but could feature against England (November 12), Italy (November (19) and Wales (November 26).
