Radical changes are set to sweep through South African rugby following the World Cup in France later this year.
According to a report in the Saturday Star newspaper, the first Springbok team of 2008 will consist of at least 10 black and coloured players.
National coach Jake White will also be replaced by the country’s first black Springbok coach — Peter de Villiers — and the side is set to be captained by Luke Watson.
Watson, the 23-year-old Western Stormers captain, was recently included in the Springbok training squad at the insistence of South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins, his deputy Mike Stofile and chairperson of the Board of South Africa Rugby Mpumelelo Tshume.
Watson was due to make his international debut for the Springboks against Samoa at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The openside flanker is the son of former anti-apartheid activist Cheeky Watson, who still has close ties with the ruling ANC government in South Africa.
The Watson family are also closely associated with Zola Yeye, the Springbok team manager.
Rugby bosses in South Africa are unhappy with the slow rate of transformation and, according to the paper, believe the only way to ”Africanise” a sport which has been dominated by the minority white population for over 100 years is to take radical steps.
Watson, South Africa’s Super 14 player in 2006, has often been regarded as a future national rugby captain after leading the South African schools team, the SA under-19 and SA under-21 teams.
However, he has always been overlooked by White and his co-Springbok selectors.
White has maintained the Stormers flanker, at 1,84m tall and weighing 97kg, is too small for international rugby. He also, according to White, doesn’t offer him an option in the line-outs.
De Villiers, a former Currie Cup coach with the East Rand-based Falcons and Mighty Elephants from the Eastern Cape, is currently in charge of the emerging Springboks side who are playing in a tournament in Romania. He also coached the SA under-21 team, which won the world title in 2005.
”I have no problem with the transformation requirements,” De Villiers told the paper.
”My record at under-19, under-21 and provincial level speaks for itself. Other coaches pick black players in their squad, but don’t play them. That’s where I am different. I pick the players and play them,” said De Villiers.
He added he would meet the requirements of 10 black players in a Springbok team. ”There will be pain [in the results] but it is something we must go through to transform the team. It would be an honour for me to coach the Boks,” he was quoted as saying.
Furthermore, De Villiers said Watson would be his obvious choice to lead the side.
”Luke was my captain with the under-21s. He would be my first name on the team sheet he’s inspirational, dynamic and a great player.”
The Springboks team for Saturday includes five black players — JP Pietersen, Ashwin Willemse, Waylon Murray, Wayne Julies and Ricky Januarie.
Neither Hoskins nor Stofile — the country’s top rugby brass — were immediately available for comment. – Sapa