/ 11 September 2006

Ex-Boks block sale of boot-camp film

Fearing for their modesty, a group of former South African rugby internationals have won a court order banning the sale of a film showing them at the infamous military style ”Kamp Staaldraad”.

The Springbok rugby team endured a stint at the controversial camp as preparation for the 2003 World Cup. The team’s security adviser at the time, Adriaan Heyns, has launched a website promoting the sale of a DVD showing players at the camp.

However, former Springbok captain Corne Krige, together with a group of players involved in the camp, secured a court order to stop the release of the DVD late on Sunday night.

”We’ve stopped him from selling and releasing the DVD for the time being,” Krige said on Monday.

”The players all feel there is no way that our naked bodies are going to appear on DVD.

”We’ve stopped it thanks to the help of several high-profile people and hopefully we’ll get a permanent court order in the next few weeks.”

Dale McDermott, the team’s then video analyst, captured images of degraded players and released them to the media as the story gathered momentum in late 2003.

McDermott, who descended into a deep depression after losing his job and becoming isolated by SA Rugby authorities, committed suicide last year.

”The purpose of the camp was to bind the World Cup players as a team and to test the player’s ability to perform under extreme physical and psychological pressure,” Heyns’s site claims.

”You decide yourself.” — Reuters