Veteran Springbok winger Breyton Paulse has taken a swipe at the controversial ”boot camp” the national team were put through before the Rugby World Cup, saying at one stage he nearly cracked up.
Paulse, who is coloured, and has 40 caps under his belt, also lashed out the lack of transformation within the team, saying that at one stage in Australia he felt that black players were there only for ”window-dressing purposes”.
”In a sense it brought the team together, but I will never do anything like that again in my life,” Paulse told The Star on Friday of the Kamp Staaldraad — Afrikaans for Camp Steel-Wire — experience.
Video footage of the camp has rocked South Africa, showing players being forced naked into a freezing lake to pump up rugby balls.
They were also allegedly woken by gunfire and left in the bush with a chicken and an egg, which they had to cook.
Players were allegedly forced naked into a foxhole where recordings of England’s national anthem and the All Blacks’ haka were played while ice-cold water was poured over their heads.
”I nearly cracked when we were sitting naked in that pit. Most of the other things weren’t that bad,” Paulse said.
He said he was disappointed by the lack of progress in transforming South African rugby to include more black players, and at the lack of opportunities in Australia.
”I didn’t want to be a window-dressing guy. I’ve been there and done it before, so I really expected more opportunities.”
Only one non-white player, Ashwin Willemse, who is coloured, made it in the line-up in South Africa’s quarterfinal clash against New Zealand where they were trashed 29-9 — the first time South Africa did not reach the semifinals.
”I couldn’t understand why, you know, we didn’t get more opportunities. It was very strange to me,” Paulse said.
”I think most of the guys in the squad deserved to be there. Whoever played on the day wouln’t have let South Africa down, I think. Unfortunately it just came down again to black players losing out.” — Sapa-AFP