Springbok coach Jake White has hit back at critics of his selection of an under-strength Tri-Nations squad to tour Australia and New Zealand.
”I find it odd that I’m not allowed to take this squad overseas. We have to look at the bigger picture in a World Cup year and, besides, there are only three new caps in the squad,” White told reporters on Wednesday.
”For the record, the best players in the 1999 World Cup, which Australia won, were John Eales and Tim Horan and neither of them played any Super 12 rugby that year. Last year, New Zealand played an A and a B side. Nobody said anything in 2004 when I fielded a very inexperienced side with just 175 caps,” White said.
White named a Springbok squad missing more than 20 first-choice players for Tests against Australia in Sydney on July 7 and New Zealand in Christchurch on July 14, evoking strong criticism from South Africa’s Sanzar (South African Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Australian Rugby Union) partners, who accused the coach of devaluing international rugby and harming the spirit of the Sanzar partnership.
South Africa beat Australia 22-19 in Cape Town but lost 26-21 to the All Blacks in Durban in the opening two rounds of Tri-Nations action and White believes his team have little chance of winning the competition.
”If you lose a home game, it doesn’t bode well. In a year like this, you have to make decisions that will win you the World Cup and we as South Africans are in no doubt as to how important the World Cup is — winning in 1995 changed our country.
”We have a leading sports scientist in Professor [Tim] Noakes advising us and you have to value what he says. He said quite plainly that we would pick up a huge amount of injuries if we used the same players to go overseas as well. As it is, we already have a lot of injuries.
”If New Zealand come into our game in the last week of the competition having already won the tournament, do you think it would be right of me to demand they send their best team into the match?” White asked. — Reuters