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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has criticised the selection policy of Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
De Villiers spoke to eNCA on Sunday following the Boks’ humiliating 34-32 Rugby World Cup loss to Japan in Brighton the previous day.
De Villiers was particularly critical of a call made before the game when loose forward Willem Alberts pulled out with a calf strain.
Instead of replacing Alberts with flank Siya Kolisi, who was on the bench, Meyer opted to pick Pieter-Steph du Toit at flank, despite the latter normally being a lock.
A lack of transformation was a big talking point before the selection of the tournament and De Villiers felt selecting Kolisi, who is a black player, would have been the right call.
“We had an injury before the game on a flank forward. We’ve got a guy there (Kolisi) who’s showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can compete with the best in the world, (but) we replaced him with a lock (Du Toit),” said De Villiers.
De Villiers said the Boks needed Kolisi’s speed in broken play.
“The speed to the ball, the speed to the breakdowns and the defence areas... that is where they then beat us because our selection policy is screwed up.”
South Africa’s next match is against Samoa at Villa Park Birmingham on Saturday (17:45 SA time).
