South African rugby this week found itself once again dancing to the strains of a political orchestra. And it was no pretty thing, mind you; rather a bumbling two-left-feet effort that left an expectant rugby public rightly dismayed.
During what should have been a week of basking in the glory of the first all-South African Super 14 rugby final, the focus shifted squarely to Bok selection issues when South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins ran roughshod over coach Jake White and the selection panel in choosing Luke Watson for the Bok training camp.
Rumours have abounded for years over a personal spat between White and Watson. The coach, though, has always cited rugby reasons for Watson’s exclusion.
However, many political hats were thrown into the ring during the course of week, with both Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile giving their views on the matter, while Watson’s name was bandied around Parliament during a debate on the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill.
The whole saga also has the added political twist of Luke’s father, Dan “Cheeky” Watson — who is well known for his anti-apartheid stance and who turned his back on then-white Springbok rugby for his political beliefs — stating that there is a sinister third force running rugby in this country.
Luke has been unwittingly thrust into the limelight by this controversial selection. There can be no doubt about the player’s ability, but is it not good enough for the coach to pick who he is comfortable with in his team? He is the one who lives or dies by the success of the team.
However, it is a familiar position for South African rugby, which seems to lurch from one crisis to another while the game itself becomes a bit-part, support-act player.
When has there ever been a World Cup year in which South African rugby has not had to deal with some souring aspect pre-tournament? In 1995, there was an uproar over the discard of Tiaan Strauss from the Cup squad; in 1999, most of South Africa were holding their heads over the exclusion of respected former captain Gary Teichmann from the squad; and in 2003, the Geogate scandal reared its ugly head.
In an interesting aside, there was no interference from rugby bodies in adding the name of either Strauss or Teichmann to the squads in those aforementioned World Cup years. And they were certainly non-selections that raised much debate, much as Luke Watson’s has in the past.
Any early hope for a seamless rugby build-up the to the 2007 edition seems to be gone. Once again, one wonders where the line is drawn for political meddling in sport — particularly in a World Cup year.
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
Ignatius Jacobs
The Gauteng transport minister’s 2002 proposal for a monorail in Gauteng has borne fruit, with a R12-billion rail (privately funded, to boot) to be built between Johannesburg and Soweto. The province’s monstrous traffic congestion can only be addressed by such grand ideas. We hope there is more to come. |
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When the new traffic information system kicked off with teething problems, we gave the Transport Minister and his department a cautionary thumbs-up for trying to deal with the problems at hand. Now, weeks later, as the system is still “freezing” and resulting in lengthy queues outside licensing stations, we switch that to a thumbs-down. At this rate, eNaTIS won’t even be running smoothly for the 2010 World Cup. |
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