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South African rugby team leaves for world cup amid heavy criticism over its composition

Xinhua, September 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The South African rugby team, affectionately known as Springboks, left for England on Friday for the Rugby World Cup 2015 scheduled for next week, amid criticism for its domination by whites.

Despite this, many fans were at the OR Tambo International Airport to see them off.

The coach of the team, Heyneke Meyer, has caused a storm after he kicked out five black payers and replaced them with 13 whites.

The country's largest labour confederation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has lambasted the team for racial discrimination.

But Meyer brushed aside the criticism which he said was "baseless".

"I do not look at colour - I look at the best players. I have a great relationship with my players," he said before departure to England.

In a protest, an organization, Agency for a New Agenda, took the team to court earlier this month, demanding that the Springboks surrender their passports so as to prevent them from participating in the World Cup.

Although the case was struck off the court role, the court questioned the sluggish pace of Springboks' transformation and said the issues was of "national interest".

While at the OR international Airport, a Xinhua correspondent noted that of the 31 players selected for the Rugby World Cup, nine are blacks.

Race has long been an emotional issue in the country, not only in politics but also in sports.

"You only see black players when they shoot adverts," John Mametsa, former winger of Bulls, a Pretoria-based rugby franchise.

"This discrimination will not end anytime soon. What is happening is depressing and unfair to black players. The Springboks are still stuck in the past."

A columnist and former Springboks player, Mark Keohane said, "When in doubt, like so many (Springboks coaches) before him, he has found comfort with what he knows -- white rugby players.

"It is not right and it is not wrong, but in the context of South African rugby, it is not acceptable."

Since the dawn of democracy, South Africa has been accused of moving a "snail pace" in transforming rugby. In 1995 the late former president, Nelson Mandela put on the Springbok jersey as a sign of tolerance and reconciliation. In the year, the ream had only one black player. Two years after, the team increased the number of blacks to two.

The composition of the team has also divided the country along colour lines.

"Surely how can many white people in the Springboks team represent the 90% of black people in the country? Its totally absurd," said a University of Johannesburg law student, Thando Moyo said.

However, his fellow student Oscar Smith disagreed, saying: "If the white players are doing good, they should not be replaced with blacks for the sake of transformation. The selection should be based on merit not colour. After all, if they win, it is for the country's good."

South Africa play Japan on Saturday this weekend in their opening Pool B match and also face Samoa, Scotland and the United States in the league phase of the global rugby showcase. Enditem