OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.45pm.
CATS coach Laurie Mains has caused a storm of controversy by including only one player of colour in the squad to play the ACT Brumbies in a Super 12 semi-final in Canberra on Saturday, a move which is endangering the game’s transformation process.
Mains, who took the Cats to the semis with a 53-3 thrashing of the Chiefs at Free State Stadium, has disregarded a gentleman’s agreement between Sarfu and the country’s Super 12 coaches which stipulates that two black players be included in every 22-man squad.
Mains, a former All Black coach, contends that he was never party to such an agreement.
On Sunday, Mains went on the offensive, claiming that sections of the media are trying to derail the Cats’ Super 12 campaign after it was pointed out that Chester Williams is the sole player of colour in the Cats’ squad, and that he was substituted early in the second half of Saturday’s win.
Williams, who certainly is not a “quota” player, is also the only black representative in the Cats’ touring side, with prop Pierre Ribbens and flyhalf Boeta Wessels added to the squad.
Mains does not have a shortage of black talent to choose from, with the 1999 Vodacom player of the year Mac Masina available at centre.
Mains said, however, that Masina was asked to be left out of the squad due to a confidence problem. Masina has rejected Mains’ account, but did not comment any further.