Proudfoot: Transformation remains Springbok priority

The temptatvon to go the wee cc road and not support the Goats grows one one reads the racvst BS. We should be wallopimng the hapless wee abs as we used to but have thvs BS to deal with along with other serious problems! Stuff the racist ANC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cape Town - Springbok forwards coach Matt Proudfoot says that transforming the national side is a priority for the coaching staff.

Results might not be going South Africa's way at the moment - they are coming off losses to Argentina and Australia - but there is a bigger picture at play, says Proudfoot. 

The Boks are in Wellington this week preparing for Saturday's clash against the All Blacks, and Proudfoot said that securing a first win over New Zealand since 2014 was not the driving force behind the Boks. 

"Rassie (Erasmus) has made it very clear that if we don't get transformation right, if we don't get the squad right to be competitive at the World Cup, it doesn't matter what we do," Proudfoot said as quoted by New Zealand website Stuff. 

"Bringing a squad together that could win an individual game isn't what it's about for us.

"We realise as coaches and management - and this is driven by Rassie - that if we have to get fired for an individual loss or series of losses, then so be it.

"We started a process that will develop a team that's competitive at the World Cup and represents South Africa as a nation united, that's what this squad is about." 

Proudfoot added that the coaching staff was aware of the frustration from back home.

"We hear it, obviously you listen to it. For all the people who criticise there are people supporting us," Proudfoot explained.

"I can show you my phone and the messages of support we get from past players, 'just stick with what you're doing'.

"They can see the effort and what this team is doing on the field. Mistakes are going to happen when you're developing a side. Every second half has been above our opponents and that's effort. We will get the execution right the more experience this team gets."

Kick-off on Saturday is at 09:35 (SA time). 

I posted this on another thread, it's a sad state of affairs - 30 years ago we were picking the team based on colour and 30 years later we're doing the same, it's not okay and it's racist.

It's also incredibly demeaning to players selected on merit but thrown on the pile of quotas by critics because the uncertainty is there if they were picked on performance or just because of something as trivial as their skin pigmentation.

 For instance the team over the RC and against the poms is littered with players who's domestic performance has justified their selection - Dyanti, Nkosi, Mampimpi, Gelant, Willemse, Am and whilst some of them may have failed, they failed because some players just aren't capable of making the step up but they deserved their shots based on performance.

Compare that to Mvovo, Chilliboy, Orie - and cleary these weren't picked on the basis of performance.

It beggars belief. They need to get their **** together.

and represents South Africa as a nation united,

Pointless political rhetoric. Who is bothered about a sports team representing the makeup of a nation? No one except a few politicians.

At least Proudfoot has made it clear that winning is not on the agenda. Apparently their mission is some misguided form of nation building.

Empty stands will echo this folly.

Tale after tale after tale.

Transformation is told to be a priority whereas no quota policy is being enforced.

At least, if they had a quota policy, the tale of the priority could be more credible.

As stated many times, this transformation tale is just that, a way to hide the poverty of SA rugby.

They would lose anyway. They cant stomach it, thinking that SA rugby was something of great.

It never was. Professionalism has exposed the shortcomings in SA rugby.

Time to terminate rugby in SA.

Who is bothered about a sports team representing the makeup of a nation? No one except a few politicians.

In SA, obviously.

Elsewhere, it is a central point of discussion and a high demand.

A team in which most players are unable to speak the major languages of the country would be a scandal and put under heavy pressure.

EN refuse to select over sea players. They must come from the local championship. FR refuse to select non national players.

When most players come from minorities, they must win or be exposed to media harassment. Even when they win, they are subjected to reproaches, belittling.

You'll have a hard time finding a country in the world that can not field a team made of players from the main population. That the best players are not from the main population is another story.

SA could not even field a quota player squad to challenge Kenya.

SA rugby is an abnormality when it comes to sports. Anywhere else, that would be a heavy scandal.

In SA, clearly, people are entitled to lose and do not appreciate when the main population consider themselves as worthy candidates to lose.