MICHAEL VLISMAS, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.25pm.
SPRINGBOK coach Nick Mallett plans to present the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) with a proposal which he feels will repair the damage done by a dismal Tri-Nations ahead of the World Cup.
The Springboks arrived at Johannesburg International early on Tuesday morning with their World Cup hopes seemingly shattered by two record defeats to both New Zealand (28-0) and Australia (32-6).
But while Mallett admitted that South Africa are no longer the tournament favourites, he was adamant the defeats had enabled him to examine various players in high pressure situations, which would prove valuable in his finalising of the 30-man World Cup squad before August 31.
“The World Cup begins now. I’ve seen what I want to see, and I now know exactly where I stand with these players. I won’t be chopping and changing,” said Mallett.
“I’ll be making a proposal to SARFU that the players have at least two weeks fitness training and then three weeks preparation to build the team spirit going into the World Cup.
“The confidence from last year is obviously missing. But there are a lot of young players in this team for whom the Tri-Nations was a learning experience.
“The ’98 side was a good one, but it was starting to come apart towards the end of the year. But I feel the current crop of players are not playing as if their lives depend upon it.”
Mallett singled out the “horrendous run of injuries” and a “lack of creativity from the loose forwards and halfbacks” as the two main areas of concern.
“I know the rugby we need to play, but we haven’t been allowed to play it.
“Injuries were also a huge problem. The Super 12’s top three eighthmen in Gary Teichmann, Bobby Skinstad and Andre Vos are all injured.
“Last year we played 16 tests with an unchanged side. This year players are succumbing to heavy contact injuries. I think it’s just a bad patch we’re going through.
“But I made no panic selections as reported. That’s total rubbish. I don’t regret any of the changes I made.
“Gaffie (Du Toit) has to sharpen up on his defence. Dave (Von Hoesslin) needs more experience. Braam (Van Straaten) is good at certain things and weak at others.
“And both Anton Leonard and Deon Kayser did well under the circumstances.”
As for what lies ahead, Mallett believes the situation can only improve.
“We certainly can’t do any worse than we have.” — MWP