Peter Bills: Down and nearly out - Boks need a big one

They've been away from home for five weeks, they haven't had a decent boerewors (South African sausage) in that time and they've copped one humiliation and an error-ridden defeat.

Who could wonder if the thoughts of Jake White's Springboks are only on departure time for their flight back to Johannesburg tomorrow?

The South Africans trip in this expanded Tri-Nations has been a tour from hell. If this is a sign of things to come, New Zealand and Australia are going to get an influx of miserable South African rugby men about this time every year.

There has probably been more going on off the field than on it. Which might have something to do with the poor showing of these Boks on this trip.

The latest banner headlines from home alleged that South African rugby authorities have told coach Jake White he must select five black South Africans in future test teams.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Springboks management has refused to comment on the report.

If it is true, it will tie the national coach's hands and possibly force him out.

Transformation within South African sport is an essential process but to lay down such firm guidelines would make any coach's job all but impossible.

White has also become embroiled, unwisely one has to say, in disputes with some South African journalists.

The Springboks' whole handling of the media on this trip has been disastrous.

No team manager was appointed for the tour - a crass error - and White has become a combination of coach, cheerleader, official spokesman, organiser, cajoler and bottle-washer. The outcome has been predictable.

No professional sporting outfit representing its country makes a tour without an official manager. Those who head South African rugby should be held accountable.

Nor can they claim, if such was the case, that White wanted it this way. Whether he did or not is irrelevant. He should have been overridden and a manager appointed. No one man can do everything.

White has been too high profile, too much in the public eye. At times, coaches need to retreat with their players away from public comment and scrutiny. Their task is to ensure their team does the talking on the field.

For sure, there has been far too much talking and wrangling off the field. You cannot imagine someone of the stature of Graham Henry allowing himself to be dragged into so many petty disputes and issues. Indeed, the watching All Blacks must have been bemused by these goings-on.

Is it any great surprise that against this backdrop, the team has not performed?

White has to consider his own part in this scenario. From the moment he talked publicly about the England job, for which he was approached, seeds of doubt would have crept into players minds.

By the time he publicly said he was no longer a candidate, the damage had been done.

This coincided with a disastrous run of injuries to key players that revealed the paucity of suitable replacements within the South Africa ranks.

Granted, few countries with the possible exception of New Zealand, could whistle up like-for-like replacements for players of the calibre of Jean de Villiers, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger and Ashwin Willemse.

But then, all teams suffer injuries. It is how their absence is covered that matters.

So with all this in mind, the South Africans must try to flout expectation and perform effectively against Australia at Sydney's Telstra Stadium tonight.

The portents are not good, even ignoring all that has already been written. When the Boks came to Sydney last year, they were overrun 30-12, by five tries to nil.

Anything very different tonight would probably be a surprise.

The crucial No 10 role remains an imponderable. Butch James is the flavour of the month, but whether he can stabilise the side and unleash the attacking qualities of Jaque Fourie and Wynand Olivier remains to be seen.

Up front, the combined loss of Botha and Burger has grievously weakened these Springboks. Others need to stand up and be counted.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old veteran Os du Randt soldiers on gamely, making his sixth start in six tests over eight weeks. It's a demanding schedule for a man of his years but a revealing comment on the lack of alternatives available.

South African rugby badly needs a greatly improved display tonight.

It has gone beyond the stage of simply wondering about their coach's future. The immediate future of the Springboks is on the line.

Australia v South Africa,
Sydney, 10 tonight

Australia
Chris Latham, Mark Gerrard, Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan (c), Wycliff Palu, George Smith, Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman, Nathan Sharpe, Rodney Blake, Tai McIsaac, Greg Holmes.
Reserves: Jeremy Paul, Guy Shepherdson, Mark Chisholm, Phil Waugh, Sam Cordingley, Mat Rogers, Clyde Rathbone.

South Africa
P Montgomery, Akona Ndungane, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Fourie du Preez, Jacques Cronje, Juan Smith, Solly Tyibilika, Victor Matfield, Johann Muller, CJ van der Linde, John Smit (c), Os du Randt.
Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepele, Eddie Andrew, Albert van der Berg, Joe van Niekerk, Ricky Januarie, Meyer Bosman, Jaco van der Westhuyzen.