Lone ‘independent’ voice vindicated
2 Aug 2006
Dale Granger’s revelation in Wellington that Jake White was being forced to pick a certain number of African black players has been vindicated with White’s letter to his bosses telling them to front up on the transformation issue around selection.
When White explained Solly Tyibilika’s inclusion against the All Blacks as part of transformation, Granger recorded it and wrote the story that Tyibilika had been picked ahead of other opensiders because he was black. Granger had earlier written a sympathetic piece in defence of White because of the complexities in picking teams.
White and the Bok management made a poor attempt to back-track, alleging they had never said it. This was due to pressure from within the South African Rugby Union.
At the time White’s contract was scrutinised and discussed by SARU’s bosses on three fronts: results, transformation and media. The coach was told he was failing in all three areas.
Granger was made a victim on the tour with this website aware that Granger’s working colleague Peter Bills — the Independent Newspaper’s global rugby correspondent — even reporting Granger to his newspaper bosses in Ireland for supposed ‘irresponsible’ journalism.
Granger defended his piece and the accuracy of it. The word from Ireland was that he back off and give White some space last week.
White was given space, while news was spread within the team that Granger would be ordered home for showing a ‘lack of professional etiquette’ to the Boks. It was outrageous that Granger was not simply told to continue to call the tour as it evolved.
Now a week later White has confirmed he sent a letter to his bosses demanding them to inform the public about the transformation issue within the team and the restrictions White is under whenever he picks a Bok team. He effectively has confirmed Granger’s writing of a week earlier.
The letter was leaked to the SABC from within SARU. Keo.co.za knows who leaked the letter and the intention was to further put pressure on White ahead of the test match.
This is just another example of those within the organisation willing White to fail. At the President’s Council meeting a month ago, White’s proposal for a contract extension found favour with not one of the 14 provincial presidents. The word after that meeting was that they wanted the Bok coach out.
When the government’s portfolio committee attacked White in the media for an alleged lack of transformation, nowhere did SARU support the coach by way of a public statement.
The Bok coach was also denied the services of a team manager and given a communications manager he did not believe was competent to do the job. The media chaos around the tour is vindication of White’s worst fears.
The Bok coach has made many mistakes this year and is feeling the pressure of three successive defeats. But he is also feeling the pressure of not being backed within his organisation. He and Granger may not realise it but they have plenty in common on this tour. Both seem to be fighting the opposition as much as they are battling their own organisation.
319 Comments
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3 Aug 2006, 00:50 am
Get this over with.
Hire a black coach.
Why SA Rugby continues to hire white coaches that still think they live in a country that gives a **** about anything white is pathetic.
Select the players required by the ANC.
Stop struggling with the idea that things are going to get “better”.
Accept the fact that 1995 was great, and move the hell on.
And the last one out…please turn off the lights.
3 Aug 2006, 01:31 am
Keo,
It will be interesting to watch the ANZAR response that’s due soon, NZ rugby writers Chris Rattue and Wynne Gray already questioned the value of playing against a Springboks team that picked sub-standard players such as Andrews and Solly T and win comfortably against despite downgraded ABs line up.
The commercial issue should follow suit: tours by Ireland and England were a failure this year’s winter to OZ/NZ, so ditiching the TriNation in favour of longer end of the year tours by the ABs and the Wallabies to Europe, possibly playing a series there must be now on the cards?!
TV contracts may be revised too: who wants to watch today the bafanas or the Proteas? let alone paying for it?
3 Aug 2006, 01:45 am
Dennisb (264) and Alica (197) what the transformation charter says or does not say might be irrelevant. In SA it the ruling party operating policy that is. I can tell you that as early as 2002 we were in big trouble already when the Government department I worked for made it a ruling that all white, coloured and Indian applications for vacant posts were to be put aside and not considered for shortlisting. If I didn’t Pretoria did it for me and I received a letter rebuking me for not aligning myself with transformation. I was forced to put cv’s from coloured applicants with PhD’s on the reject pile simply because of their race. Only BLACK names to be forwarded to Pretoria for shortlisting – in CPT that meant the applicant had to have a Xhosa surname and an approppriate address. Yes we are in trouble, were in trouble and the ANC just like this rugby President’s Council are not transparent about their policies because they know the policy won’t stand up to proper scrutiny.
So was Paulse replaced by Ndugane for Saturday on form or because he is not from the chosen race?
3 Aug 2006, 04:04 am
What’s the point of keeping up appearances and pretences? Clearly it’s not good enough just picking the proper number of quota players and the right number of proper “African Blacks” who are obviously much more acceptable to the ANC than coloureds or other lesser half-castes.
No, just SELECTING the requisite numbers of quota players stops well short of what is necessary!
For “transformation” to enjoy its full and glorious flourish, one is also expected to suspend all cynical disbelief and to GENUINELY BELIEVE that all these quota players are truly in the team on merit!
Yes, folks. Tyibikila is the best fetcher in the country. Breyton isn’t cowardly, slow and over the hill but is truly at the zenith of his powers. Eddie Andrews is the best prop in town.
And SARU and Jake White have not been feasting on a steady diet of hallucinogenic mushrooms all year long.
Avoid, at all costs, swallowing a dose of reality pills. Don’t wake up from the dream in the happy zone.
And “transformation” is going to be just jim-dandy and hunky-dory for ever and ever amen !
3 Aug 2006, 06:26 am
Shaka,
Not so sure i agree with your sentiments and everybody else here feeling so sorry for Jake.
Taking the Springboks from 6th to 2nd and then dishing out what we are seeing a year before the world cup; is like finding an old granny lying in the street, almost helping her to her feet and then letting her hand go so she goes crashing back to the ground. We should never have been in that position under Strauli and we should not be in the position we are now. So I feel feathers.
Black players have not cost us; Jake’s selections have – he has stuck with lilywhite Jaco and brought in has-beens like Gaffie and Snyman (that’s no colour issue).
3 Aug 2006, 07:39 am
Kevin W – point taken and in the communications world I believe the expression is “I hear you” loosely translated means I understand the angle from whence you come , but do not necessarily agree .
It is precisely the selections – do you really think White Jake would be selecting the XV taking the field if he had his own way – most definitely not . Therein lies the rub , Sir . Yiswe gahle mfowetu .
3 Aug 2006, 09:22 am
Shaka
Politics plays a part – granted and we all know that, yet for how many years have we brushed it under the carpet. It aint going away and the sooner something is done the better. That’s why I have been so for an “organised and supported” Spears franchise.
My point is that jake is now blaming transformation agendas when he has been picking white players like Jaco, Cronje, Barry for years when they have not been the answer. He can’t focus on scrums and then play Andrews and blame transformation.
You know if the Boks ran on with Solly and replaced him with Luke / and played the Ndungane twins on the wings with Habana at outside centre and Fourie at fullback, I would support him for trying.
But no, he is taking a conservative approach and still getting his *** handed to him on a silver platter by the decent rugby countries. I believe he is failing and should stand up and be counted, but he cant stand up because his feet are in his mouth!
3 Aug 2006, 11:10 am
Kevin
You form part of a bunch of people that annoy the hell out of me. You mention certain white players that aren’t good enough, sure they might not be good enough but for your argument to stand there had better be black players that are better than them in those positions. Jaco was our best bet at flyhalf until he lost form and there are basicly no black flyhalves to speak of in SA, on the same line of thinking name me one good black eighthman, and I reckon Jacqes Cronje’s worth against the all blacks was seriously underestimated. When Barry was on form Julies was far worse than him and there aren’t many other good inside centres. Barry then lost form and Jean De Villiers took his place. People also go on about Andre Snyman etc. Andre Snyman was playing very good rugby in the Northern Hemisphere and White wanted to experiment with him and see whether he actually was that good. He wasn’t good enough and he was dropped straight away. Jake knows how good or not good the black wingers in the country are and needed to test Snyman, he failed and end of story. John Smit up until last year was in fact our best hooker on form and had an inspired performance on the November tour. This year he is out of form but please name me a black hooker that is better than him. Add to that the fact that Jake is not just gonna drop his captain just like that, that would be crazy. Shimange is nowhere, Chiliboy is still not prepared for test level, who else would you put in his place. Gaffie Du Toit just like Snyman was an experiment as Gaffie had worked well before for white on the left wing and Jake just wanted to see whether he was still up to it. He wasn’t and Jake forgot about him. People must stop whining about so-called quota white players unless they can provide a better black alternative.
3 Aug 2006, 11:42 am
Not only is it un PC and very infra dig to SAY that the quota players are not as good as the non-quota ones, but you mustn’t even allow yourself to THINK it!
If you do, you are a racist spoilsport and you unpatriotically disrespect the entire “transformation” process. Hide your head in shame!
(Yeah, right!)
3 Aug 2006, 12:05 pm
keo you gutles worm
3 Aug 2006, 12:06 pm
Tackler
I like your sarcasm, that’s how big a joke it has become.
3 Aug 2006, 12:07 pm
stucky – go read the terms and condtions before whining like a girl.
3 Aug 2006, 12:18 pm
While I sit in my living room in the UK, Working from home today over a 10meg connection not having to worry about being shafted by Telkom and other New South African parasites, cockroah keo feel the need to censor people posting.
Mark we know you have no backbone but if you’re going to create threads such as this then at least let people come to their own conclusions. What Journo school did you go to? Always knew you had no integrity. Thanks for proving it for me.
3 Aug 2006, 12:18 pm
My black springbok team:
1) Sephaka
2) Shimange
3) Eddie
4) Davids
5) Nicolai Blignaut
6) Floors
7) Dlulane
8) Lloberts sp?
9) Bolla
10) ?? Ishmael Dollie
11) Chavanga
12) Julies
13) Habana
14) Akona Ndungane
15) JP Pieterson
These guys would get pumped by most Super 14 teams.
3 Aug 2006, 12:19 pm
ah gee your hurting my feeling. High skill labour labour i see!
3 Aug 2006, 12:23 pm
hobbo
People that can’t read and speak without thinking annoy the hell out of me. People like you.
Why must i justify a black player, when I criticise a white player. I criticise Jake’s selections, black and white.
All i’m saying is that he thinks we are all fools when he sticks with a plonker like Jaco (who is a pivot), fails and then blames transformation. You cannot honestly tell me that transformation is the reason for us having a bad run.
3 Aug 2006, 12:31 pm
Ok maybe I grouped you with the wrong group, but I’m sick of guys saying but what about the white quota players x, y and z. Agree, Jake is **** and his selections (or whoever is responsible for them) are ****. Jaco, Jacques, John Smit, and a bunch of others aren’t good enough anymore, agreed. But you never know, I think there is more to the Jake White case than meets the eye and I do think transformation pressure and other pressures are affecting his coaching. But agreed, even under those pressures he should have done a much better job and his excuses are sometimes ridiculous.
3 Aug 2006, 12:36 pm
African Yankee
“Get this over with. Hire a black coach.”
Where do you think that is going to lead us.
Into the abyss. There are no, yes no black coaches of any quality in this country, maybe a few coloured ones like Pieter De Villiers. Hiring a black coach that is not qualified for the job will just mean that our rugby will go to **** and the rest of the world will lose all respect for us as a rugby nation. Hiring a black coach will sort all our problems out, yeah right!!!!!!!!!!
3 Aug 2006, 12:37 pm
stucky – you plonker – read 312 – we do not allow posting of links on this site.
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