While everyone else is busy working out their Super 12 scenarios ahead of the most frantic finish to log play in the competition’s history, the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) is one step ahead. On Wednesday this week three entirely different scenarios were sent to the press from HQ, concerning the date and venue for the announcement of Jake White’s first Springbok squad.
Naturally enough the Sarfu scenarios are intimately entwined with the Super 12 ones and the latest that the squad of 22 will be revealed is 3.30pm on Saturday May 22 — the day set aside for the Super 12 final. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there is a somewhat earlier date penciled in for the same announcement, to whit, Sunday May 9.
The latter date will come into play if neither the Stormers nor the Sharks progress to the semifinals this weekend and, given what has occurred over the past two weeks (none out of eight for South African teams in case you’ve been away), Sarfu can hardly be accused of undue pessimism in its scheduling.
After hopeful dreams of international recognition and a new beginning for South African rugby, we have once again been reduced to a domestic squabble over one play-off spot. If the Sharks happen to win, but other results go against them, the squabble will be akin to that of two bald men over a comb, for there will be no South African team in the last four.
If White thought he had an easy job a month ago, he knows what he’s up against now. For one thing he has been made aware of the single most frustrating thing about our rugby: its utter inconsistency. The Stormers put 50 points on the Blues at Eden Park and then failed to beat 14 Crusaders in Christchurch. And it wasn’t just that they failed to beat them — it wasn’t even close.
The Sharks nearly beat the Brumbies in Canberra, won two other games in Australasia and hung on to beat the Crusaders in Durban. Hard part out of the way, let’s prepare for a home semifinal. Successive defeats to the Chiefs, Reds and Blues later and it’s (almost) all over.
In the circumstances spare a thought both for White and his chosen Springbok captain, John Smit. As if facing a daunting international fixture list were not enough, Smit may have to greet the fourth estate over coffee and biscuits in Sandton having captained the Sharks to four successive defeats at home.
There is nothing quite like making a rod for your own back and Smit’s appointment in the heady days of mid-March looked needlessly premature at the time and hopelessly so now.
The explanation given then was that the Springbok captain was an integral part of Sarfu’s future planning and not something that could be attended to a fortnight before the first test against Ireland. Which is double-speak for the marketing department needed time to set up a few photo shoots to keep the sponsors happy.
A new president, coach and playing structure after the disastrous World Cup and Sarfu is still in thrall to a few ponytails who insist that pictures of the Springbok captain looking mean, moody and magnificent alongside various sanctified products is more important than winning the odd game of rugby.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. For one thing White has managed to convince Sarfu that choosing to play your rugby outside of South Africa does not necessarily mean that you are either too old, too limited, too racist or all three. He has managed to add the names of Percy Montgomery, Jaco van der Westhuyzen and Clyde Rathbone to his mix, although it should surprise nobody if none of those names is in the final squad.
Rathbone’s case will be the most interesting, for it will be the first, but surely not the last, instance of a talented youngster playing one nation off against another. The International Rugby Board will be watching nervously, hoping that it will not have to revise its already contentious eligibility laws.
It would be a sad day if players of quality opted not to play for their country on the basis that said country wasn’t very good. It has already happened in the Pacific islands where youngsters would sooner play domestic rugby in New Zealand than Test matches for their country. Of course that could never happen in a proud rugby nation like South Africa. Could it?