Keohane spills the beans on Springbok saga

By MARK KEOHANE*

Black Springbok Gcobani Bobo, his services as a substitute not required, bursts into tears with 15 minutes to play in the recent Test against Australia in Brisbane.

He feels the Bok coaches have no faith in him and he is merely making up black numbers in the Springbok match 22.

And Bobo reveals to me on the eve of the World Cup team announcement that he feels he is only in the team to make up the numbers.

Black wing Ashwin Willemse, South Africa's standout backline player in Test rugby this year, wants to go the World Cup and then play club rugby overseas next year as black players remain the minority in Springbok rugby. He is 21 years old.

White fullback Jaco van der Westhuyzen is omitted from the World Cup squad. His first question is to ask if black fullback Ricardo Loubscher has been included.

Black rugby supporters approach a Bulls contingent of Springbok rugby players at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria in search of autographs. Before the fans can even ask for an autograph, the Bulls players turn away and opt for another route back to base.

Springbok captain Corne Krige welcomes the supporters, signs autographs and later admonishes the Bulls players for snubbing much-needed black support.

Black physiotherapist Matime Diali treats eight players during the week in the build-up to the All Blacks Test in Dunedin. White physiotherapist Clint Readhead treats 30. White players queue for the white physio or go back later to be treated by him.

This is the background to the racial incident in which a white player (Geo Cronje) took a defiant stand against SA Rugby policy and Springbok team protocol, and refused to share a room with a black player (Quinton Davids).

The white player was ordered back. He did not go immediately, opting to take up an empty room. He then went back on the instruction of the national coach after black players had insisted that management not tolerate his action.

It took the threat of being kicked out of the World Cup squad and a phone call to his father before Cronje moved back in with Quinton Davids. Now I am expected to believe they are the best of friends.

In the year when South African rugby's transformation success will be judged in accordance with its mission statement, Vision 2003, the Springbok management is less than intent on dealing with the prejudice; it exhausts its energy on finding who leaked the story .

I, in my capacity as Springbok Communications Manager, have been accused of leaking the story to the media by Rudolf Straeuli and Corne Krige. Both apologised in person to me last Friday. On Thursday, Krige publicly labelled me the leak again, and questioned how much longer I would have kept my job had I not resigned.

For the record: I can categorically state the story was not leaked by me.

For the record: management based its condemnation of me on the view that once a journalist always a journalist.

The insistence of the team management on uncovering the source(s) of the story and looking beyond the incident(s) within the Springbok set-up is indicative of the cancer.

Straeuli is more concerned with finding out who broke team protocol and talked about the Davids-Cronje incident.

He has made it clear to the team he will not tolerate individuals who are not team players.

The coach, though, has not been as vociferous in condemning the action of a white individual who would not share a room with a black player.

He has not been as outspoken about disciplining players who bite or about the team ethic of video taping the opposition's final training sessions. He has also not been too disturbed by telling players they are in his World Cup squad, then not selecting them and not even bothering to tell them.

People want to know what goes on in this Springbok team: players do not speak out. Management members do not speak out. Straeuli's assistant coaches do not speak out.

When Straeuli was challenged at a management meeting on the Sunday after the 52-16 defeat by the All Blacks and concerns were raised about his management style, his response was to ask if the questioning was a sign of no confidence in him as a coach and if so, he would step down. The meeting did not last much longer.

Now the government and SA Rugby are pleading with players, all of whom are set to earn more than R1 million should the Springboks win the World Cup, to come forward and speak out about prejudice in the national set-up.

This request has been made on the back of an incident in which a black player expressed his outrage at being treated in a certain way and has subse-quently paid an even bigger price than the player who had refused to share a room with him.

The Sarfu's two-man investigative team concluded a week ago that there was inconclusive evidence to suggest Cronje's motivation in moving out was racial. In fact, the original finding was that there was not even an incident, but a misunderstanding.

My report, presented to the Managing Director, Rian Oberholzer, provides content that hopefully answers the following questions.

If there was no racial incident:

Why did Oberholzer take such immediate and decisive action to remove Cronje from the national training squad?


What was said to Oberholzer for him to make such a decisive decision?


Who gave Oberholzer the ammunition to make such a dramatic decision?


Why was Oberholzer never called to give evidence?


Why was I never called to give evidence as the captain, Corne Krige, had confided in me and he had also discussed the issue with the coach? Oberholzer, who prompted the investigation, knew everything that I knew. I had made him aware of it.


What was Cronje's reason for moving out in the first place?


Why did it take Cronje to phone his father for advice before moving back in with Davids on the third request from the Bok coach?


Why did Krige feel it necessary to call a meeting with the black players?


Who did Davids complain to in the team set-up, which prompted Krige's involvement?


And if it was a minor misunderstanding, why did Davids take it further with other black players and team management?


What was said that was so significant at this meeting that Krige felt it serious enough to take up with the coach?


On what basis was Cronje then called in again?


Why did the captain and coach feel it necessary to give the player a lecture on learning to accommodate and respect black players in South African rugby and black people generally?


Why did Cronje feel aggrieved that the black man (Gideon Sam) had taken away praying before the game?


What was Cronje's resistance in moving back and why did the coach and captain have to threaten him with World Cup exclusion if he did not move back in with Davids?


Why was Cronje not sent home, as per instruction from the MD, and instead sent to a country lodge with Davids?


Why was the idea put forward by the Springbok senior management that Cronje should address the nation and apologise?


Why had Cronje shown remorse to coach Straeuli and have tears in his eyes?


Why was Cronje not selected in a squad of 30?


Why did Straeuli agree to speak to Cronje about going for counselling?


Why did former president Nelson Mandela get involved on the Friday evening?

Now we expect players to speak out, a day after being isolated in the bush in a three-day bonding exercise.

The Springboks' pre-World Cup schedule included three breaks in which players would go home to be with their families and friends. This was canned. The players won't be going home. Instead, this weekend all the families have been flown to the Drakensberg to be with the squad.

Straeuli's rationale, when I asked him about the change: if they go home they will be poisoned by outside influences. We have to keep them together and build a family unit.

* Keohane was Springbok media liaison until he resigned this week, citing prejudice in the team as the reason

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