CM - I know this is directed at Moz but if I may respond?
I think you have misunderstood JDV's comments - he is a company man and would not come out and say something that wasn't being discussed already by SARU or in the Bok camp. Regarding the non-performing players - I believe that was from his comment about "second stringers" which if you read in context is his explanation that because so many made late announcements the foreign based players had to be picked this year or there would have been second-stringers in the Bok team if they had only picked domestic players.
DeVilliers full quote (he does seem to go further and imply a total ban):
Both the All Blacks and the Wallabies refuse to select overseas-based players in a bid to maintain a depth of local talent, a policy de Villiers said the Springboks may be forced to adopt.
"It's something that South African rugby is looking into," he said. "We can't go on like this. We have to keep South African rugby strong.
"For now, they're selected from abroad but going into the future I can't see that happening."
He said the policy could not be implemented immediately because so many Springbok players had left Super Rugby clubs in recent weeks that it would drastically weaken the team.
"You don't want to change the team going into the Rugby Championship and play essentially second stringers, to put it quite harshly," he said.
"It's something they need to look at. You want to be able to pay your players good money, you want to be able to keep them in South Africa and I suppose getting the payments right is the key."
That is not much different than what SARU CEO Roux said a week earlier:
A limit would be the logical step forward said Roux.
“Yes, it's (a quota on foreign players) something we are considering,” he said
“But (it is) within the context of a constantly changing industry that is fast developing into a global sport...rather than just being a national sport in terms of opportunities offered. Players playing locally will always get first consideration, provided that the selectors have faith in their abilities.
“However, we are in a unique current situation with six players, who were part of the Bok squad this past year now deciding to go overseas. You can't just replace so many players in the middle of the season. But these players know their chances of playing for South Africa in future cannot be guaranteed.”
Or what Meyer said in June was his preference:
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has made it clear that any player going overseas might as well kiss their Springbok career goodbye.
Known for being empathetic towards the plight of many players’ desire to earn big money in France, England and Japan, Meyer has for the first time spoken out at the concern he has about top Springboks leaving South Africa but has warned them that playing abroad could spell the end of their international careers.
While many of them will still be available for the Springboks in the future, Meyer has made it no secret that he will first consider players playing in South Africa over those playing abroad and that it will only be under exception circumstances that he will select a player based overseas.
In the past Meyer has shown some leniency towards players abroad as was evident with the call-up of England-based Francois Louw at flank this year and those of Gurthrö Steenkamp (France), Heinke van der Merwe (Ireland) and Schalk Brits (England) during last year’s end of year tour.
However, he has put his foot down and in the interests of South African rugby and that of the Boks, he wants all of his players readily available for training camps and monitoring.
“Definitely (it is concerning) but unfortunately it is not in my hands. Players are contracted to unions and one can understand that most unions are under financial pressure.
“There are lucrative offers from overseas and every guy needs to do what is best for himself. But it is a concern if you take into consideration after the World Cup we have lost a lot of great players and we want to start and build a new team. But you can’t build every single year. If you look at the guys we have now for the next four years, I really believe this could be an awesome team. But now we have five or six guys in the starting line-up who will be with us for the rest of the year and then suddenly next year they are not here. Although there is a perception that they gain experience, you definitely want to have more training camps and you don’t have them there. So it is a huge concern for me.
“Going forward I will have to rethink, I will still pick guys from overseas but I will definitely play guys playing in the country because it makes sense to do so. This is especially when you have training camps, you want to have them here,” Meyer said this week.
With the Rugby World Cup to be held in England in 2015 it might work in Meyer’s favour to have some of his top Springboks already acclimatised to European conditions but Meyer is not entirely sold on the idea of not being able to constantly monitor and communicate with his players.
But in the same breath Meyer said he would still keep an eye on more established Springboks like Steyn and Habana who stand out in their positions and he feels have amassed invaluable experience that cannot be overlooked.
“I always look at the positives in life and in this negative that positive is the case. But you want to have 90per cent of your squad playing in South Africa because you want to coach them and give them experience.
“The difficult thing is that I don’t get time with them anyway, so I would definitely like to have more time with them in the future. Going forward I will pick guys who are in South Africa. It is only with guys like Bryan and Morné who have 50 or 60 Test matches and is playing superb rugby that you will pick them. But if it gets to a 60-40 or a 70-30 then you have to go with the guys in South Africa because you see them every day and they play a different kind of rugby here especially at this time of the year.
“At the end of the year when the guys here are tired, and the players there are in the middle of their seasons then obviously you can include them.
“In a sense you can use those players but I always prefer to have the guys in South Africa because you can monitor and communicate with them better. Our coaching staff went around this year and spent time with the players which was a huge improvement for us,” said Meyer.
