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Let's talk about Springbok selection policies

Merit based or race based? Andrew Mehrtens gave his two cents on The Short Ball this week, laying into the debate about South African Rugby’s selection policies in the wake of the Springboks’ 57-0 defeat to the All Blacks.

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“Their selection policies are not conducive to creating a merit based team and the prestige that goes along with knowing that you are your mates are the best in the country in their positions” the former All Black first five said.

“They’re not going to get the results until they change the top level of social engineering.” he went on to say.

It’s an interesting call, to say the least.

The topic of race-based selections have been a go-to excuse whenever South African rugby has found itself in the doldrums, but does it (excuse the pun) have any merit?

The number one example of the quota system actually working would have to be former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, who is mostly remembered for his fantastic ability to say something strange and quote-worthy whenever a camera was around.

What a lot of people don’t remember though, was the fact that the Springboks enjoyed a period of parity with the All Blacks. De Villiers helmed them to five victories over their traditional rival, including a win in 2009 that was the last case of a visiting team winning a test match on NZ soil till the British & Irish Lions this year. 2009 also saw the Springboks defeat the Lions in a thrilling series.

While de Villiers enjoyed a good run for a while, however he was ultimately undone by a poor showing at the 2011 World Cup. His successor Heneyke Meyer only ever won one test against the All Blacks, but enjoyed a much less scrutinised role as Springbok head coach.

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The role that the quota systems play in South African sport are a little more complicated than just picking a whole bunch of one racial group.

Historically, South Africa’s pathways to top level sport were only open to white players. While the quota system seeks to change that from the top down, there needs to be buy in from the grassroots level – otherwise this mindset will never change and white players will continue to have the easier entry into playing sport.

Therefore the implementation of quotas at the highest level will simply cause more resentment and division.

The reality is there is no easy answer for the problems that South African rugby faces.

Listen in to the full podcast below, or download it on iTunes.

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EllenMoody 3 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 4 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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