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Bizarre selection policy harming SA Rugby
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (11:57:36)
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 The run-on Springbok side to face France on Friday night holds very few surprises and is relatively unremarkable. With the starting team remaining behind in South Africa to train it was evident from the moment the squad to travel to Leicester was announced who Peter de Villiers had selected for the first of the three Test matches on tour. The composition of the bench, however, has raised further questions about the integrity of the initial 37-man squad.
Zane Kirchner and Adrian Jacobs were the two players selected to take over from the departed duo of Frans Steyn and Jean de Villiers while JP Pietersen was always going to return from injury on the wing to replace Sharks team mate Odwa Ndungane. The bizarre omission of Heinrich Brussow in favour of a loose trio consisting of Schalk Burger, Ryan Kankowski and Pierre Spies was also unveiled, but then quickly rectified when Pierre Spies was ruled out of the tour with a finger injury. Once again Heinrich Brussow - one of, if not the, best Boks of '09 - was in the side due to injury.
A vastly experimental and racially representative side was selected to do duty for the Springboks against Leicester with another follow up game planned for later in the tour against Saracens. The official line was to test the depth of our rugby and to unearth the Test players of tomorrow in two relatively low-key midweek fixtures. As a public relations and forward thinking exercise the plan had some merit.
When the Springbok 22-man squad was announced earlier today the entire exercise was exposed for the farce and disaster that it undoubtedly has been. A poorly disguised attempt to appease the politicians and boost the number of players of colour in the Springbok touring squad was brutally exposed when Peter de Villiers named an all-white bench to take on the French.
If the goal was to unearth future Springbok stars and bring through and breed a host of the talented players of the colour in this country then that objective has failed miserably. At the first sign of adversity three new players have been leapfrogged into the Test team. What's worse is that none of 'tomorrow's' players were deemed good enough for today.
Now to some of you it might sound as if I'm coming on a bit strong with my criticism of what has taken place over the last 10 days. That's simply because we have grown accustomed to the fudging of the selections and the truth by SA Rugby. While we should be celebrating a world (and southern hemisphere) champion side we're again made to look like amateurs due to some shocking administrative cock ups.
The list of things that have gone wrong on this tour is already long and makes for grim reading. When the Boks were trounced by a second string Leicester team and mauled at the scrum time it wasn't a sign that our players are faulty. Rather that the selectors and coaches (the mechanics to mis-quote Peter de Villiers himself) are doing a faulty job. The players and the fans have been badly let down by the SA Rugby administration. Throw in some poorly timed questioning of Tendai Mtawarira's Springbok credentials by the government and you have a thoroughly embarrassing situation for rugby in this country.
A front row crisis might have forced the introduction of Strauss, du Preez and van der Linde but it doesn't excuse the fact that not one player of colour finds a place on the bench for Saturday's game. What message is being sent to the likes of Bandise Maku, Heini Adams, Jongi Nokwe and Odwa Ndungane? What value was attached to Friday's game if Ashley Johnson's stand-out performance doesn't warrant a place amongst a five forward bench?
The selection of a racially representative national team is something that most South Africans have come to understand and support. That it is done in such a crude and insensitive manner is highly disappointing.
While the Test team may be happy and ready to take on France there will be a number of players, both included and excluded in the 37-man squad, that will feel that they have been hard done by. What message are SA Rugby sending out to our future Springboks?
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Team vs France
13 Nov 09
21:45
Toulouse
Toulouse, France
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- Captain - John Smit
- Kankowski at No 8
- Kirchner at fullback
- Strauss, Du Preez and Van der Linde on 5-2 split bench
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Content received from: SARugby.com, http://www.sarugby.com/news
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