Rugby: Mallett refuses to panic over loss

By Wynne Gray

The historic Springbok 19-29 loss to Wales has not pushed coach Nick Mallett to the selection panic button as he indicated he would add one tight forward to his squad for the next test with the All Blacks.

That would likely mean a recall for lock Mark Andrews while other seasoned Springboks like Os Du Randt, James Dalton, Henry Honiball, Dawie Snyman and the recovering Bobby Skinstad would be saved for the home leg of the Tri-Nations.

Mallett's more immediate concern overnight was a meeting with South African Football Union chief executive, Rian Oberholzer, to discuss his job and the curly issues of merit and quota selections for the Springboks.

A wave of criticism has pursued Mallett since he omitted coloured wing Breyton Paulse from the latest test, while the coach has remained staunch in his view that he would not be "pushed around" in his team choices.

He insisted he would pick his Springbok test teams only on merit, a philosophy which runs across SARFU's policy to get more black players in representative teams.

Mallett's dilemma was that he had three wings, Paulse, Stefan Terblanche and Pieter Rossouw, in his squad and he planned to rotate them for the opening three tests with Italy and Wales.

Paulse played both tests with Italy, Terblanche and Rossouw played one test each and were both then selected for the defeat by Wales. The equity plan did not sit well with politicians and sections of SARFU.

"Paulse was perceived to be the expected choice at right wing," disappointed SARFU development director Sas Bailey said. Fellow executive member John Ncinane was equally unimpressed.

"No one is demanding that Mallett resigns, or even that SARFU fires him at this crucial stage of the season. But he needs to be put on the right track.

"He has autonomy as the national coach but if he cannot be sensitive to the overall situation then he must go to the nearest hell."

Player quotas is a political time bomb as only six black players have represented South Africa in test rugby and there was not an immediate policy U-turn in the 1992 post-isolation era.

At schoolboy and age-group level there are now strict quotas while Currie Cup teams have to have at least one non-white. There are no quotas for the Springboks but there is plenty of pressure.

Demands, too, from the rugby community who had seen the Springboks lose to Wales for the only time in their 93-year test history. Mallett was not yielding to calls for mass sackings.

Instead, he wanted a change in attitude from the men he took to Cardiff. "I believe in the players I have got now," he said.

"What better chance to test if they are capable than against the might of New Zealand away. That game will be their acid test."

That July 10 meeting in Dunedin will open their year's fourth TriNations series and will be the 52nd test between the countries, with the results locked at 24 wins each and three draws.

Mallett's verdict on his team's loss at the opening of the Millennium Stadium in Wales was simple. They were outscrummed in the opening spell and that was the worst 40 minutes his team had offered since he started coaching them in 1997. The solution was more aggression.

"Our discipline let us down," he said. "But that was not the on-the-ball aggression I am looking for. The old mentality that you have to make up for a beating in the scrums by lashing out at the opposition is not one I find acceptable."