Former Springbok communications manager Mark Keohane on Friday insisted that Bok coach Rudolf Straeuli was fully aware of the tension between locks Quinton Davids and Geo Cronje long before their highly publicised alleged fallout a fortnight ago.
Keohane made several shocking revelations on a talk-show radio programme from Cape Town on Friday afternoon, mostly painting Straeuli as the villain in the saga, while SA Rugby managing director Rian Oberholzer was ”unfairly treated in the media”.
Keohane said that racism and prejudice were tolerated in the Bok squad and that ”the leadership of SA Rugby needs to stand up and deal with this problem”.
Keohane also highlighted the alleged racist attitudes of other members of the Bok team saying that the ”white players queue for the white physiotherapist, while the black guy, who is the senior of the two, does nothing.”
Referring to Strauli’s knowledge of tension between the two locks, Keohane revealed: ”Rudolf purposely put them [Davids and Cronje] in the same room, hoping they would become bossom buddies,” Keohane told Cape Talk Radio and Radio 702.
”He put them together to ensure that they would gel. It was Straeuli’s decision. He knew they didn’t get along all that well.
”This was the first time that a player actually made a stand and said he would not shower where Davids had showered or use the same bathroom facilities.
”There had been undertones of prejudice in the squad, but now it was blatant and the black players in the squad were angered by this.
”A meeting with [Corne] Krige led to Cronje being ordered back into the room with Davids — they said it was the only way they would let the issue go.”
Keohane also claimed that the Bok coach, who had earlier vowed to take six players of colour to next month’s global showpiece, thought only four deserved their places in the final squad.
”He said four, maybe five could go on merit, but Rian said he had to take six players of colour.”
”Rudolf then said he would call Bolla Conradie in, but the previous day I had sent a press release out saying that Fourie du Preez was being sent home because of [Robbie] Kempson’s injury.
”That would look like window-dressing, so no more Conradie,” explained Keohane.
In the end, six players of colour — Lawrence Sephaka, Dale Santon, Gcobani Bobo, Ashwin Willemse, Breyton Paulse and Ricardo Loubscher — were included in the final squad.
As allegations of racism and prejudice threaten to disrupt the Springboks’ World Cup campaign, Keohane also claimed that Cronje’s exclusion from the squad was not based on form — as Straeuli had claimed at the announcement last Saturday — but due directly to the race row that rocked the team.
”The decision had been taken by Rian on Tuesday already [that Cronje would not play in the World Cup], but when he was cleared of the allegations, it smacked of a cover-up.”
Keohane stood by his decision to resign from his post and reiterated that racism and prejudice existed in the World Cup squad.
Keohane explained that ”deceit and lies were rife and our trust had broken down to such an extent that I just could not continue in the job”.
Straeuli, meanwhile, scoffed at suggestions from his former media man that he should resign in the wake of the scandal.
On Thursday Keohane was fingered by Bok captain Corne Krige as the man who leaked the story to the media. He denied this accusation emphatically.
”No,” he said. ”I did not leak the story.”
He said that the story had leaked out as a result of Davids having phoned his family to complain about prejudice in the camp after he had felt humiliated following a gruelling 90-minute hill running session — as punishment for all the players who had been involved in the room-swopping saga. — Sapa