As the local rugby fraternity reels from a drubbing at the hands of the All Blacks, more and more voices of discontent are speaking out.

Last week we showed you the stinging criticisms from the likes of Nick Mallet, Duane Vermeulen and Juan Smith (HERE), and now it’s the turn of two former Springbok insiders.

Joel Stransky was quoted as saying our rugby is “rotten from the bottom up and top down”, and he wasn’t stopping there.

Below from the Rand Daily Mail:

“You cannot look at 2016 in isolation, it is a problem that has been coming for some time and you need to look at the game holistically from grassroots level to the top,” Stransky [said].

“The kids coming out of school do not have the same skill-set as in other countries, or are as well coached. The education system plays a major role in that.

“The next level is where the system really fails, from South African Rugby down. The (14) unions are not focussed on the Springboks being the best team in the world, they are focussed on winning the Currie Cup, winning promotion to the Premier Division or succeeding in Super Rugby.

Stransky believes the six teams South Africa has in the southern hemisphere championship, compared to the five each of New Zealand and Australia, dilutes playing talent.

“It means players are leaving in droves for contracts overseas, further weakening local teams,” he said. “If you come through that weak system, you become a weak player.”

Stransky also believes the domestic set-up is hamstrung further by a lack of coaching talent at all levels.

“To be frank, in some instances we have got a bunch of inexperienced, amateur coaches leading our top domestic sides,” he said.

“There appears to be no long-term plan, no mentorship and little goes into improving coaching structures. Something needs to change.”

That being said, Joel still backs embattled coach Allister Coetzee:

But Stransky backed Coetzee’s observation after the All Black mauling that there were few players outside of the current squad who could make a major impact.

“I don’t see a quick turnaround,” Stransky said. “There are maybe a handful of players who could come in to improve the team.

“The reality is we are set for long-term pain. We need a wholesale change. This system was voted in 100 years ago and the turkeys aren’t going to vote for Christmas to change it. We are set up to fail.”

Yes indeed, I don’t think many in the know predict a quick turnaround from the mess we currently find ourselves in.

Over to Schalk, quoted in the Guardian as follows:

“The issue we’ve got now is the age at which we’re losing players overseas,” he says. “There’s no qualms about someone like myself, Duane or Francois Louw plying our trade overseas because we’ve done our bit for the Springboks over numerous years. The big issue is losing the pros in the middle. The bloke who plays 200 games for his team, drives the everyday values, pitches up without complaining and plays 80 minutes every week … we’ve lost them in South Africa. Our pros are sitting in France or Japan or here. We’ve got top players and promising young players but nothing in the middle.”

“The reality is you can’t compare what a pro can earn in South Africa and what he can earn in France,” Burger says – before you begin to factor in the political and unique selectorial imperatives within South African sport.

Either way, Burger believes these are crucial times for South Africa’s rugby authorities: “The warning signs were there last year and maybe the year before. We probably lost a few games we wouldn’t have lost in the past. We went through a phase when massive alarm bells were ringing but we probably had a good enough international side at the time to mask it.

“SA Rugby has to become more proactive. We’ve been a good rugby nation for so long and this is the first time we’re really in big crisis. We could have been more proactive in the past but now the issue is real. Everyone is looking ahead to 2019 but there’ll be no 2019 World Cup for the current crop of players if it goes on like this.” He fears some potential stalwarts may not hang around to find out. “Young players now are probably more impatient or ambitious than we were. I was willing to sit in the queue behind Bob Skinstad, Corné Krige and others; eventually you started playing with them and became a better player for it,” Burger says. “The current generation in South Africa, whether it’s down to their agents or what they want to achieve, are moving away earlier”…

“The only time we’re going to get into Europe is when rugby as we know it in South Africa has a complete transformation, we get privately owned teams like the clubs over here and basically start a new competition.” As on the field, Burger is never afraid to go where others hesitate to tread.

Yes indeed, we really are in a right old mess.

As is customary when illustrating our current plight, I now give you highlights from the days of old. Please enjoy Ricky Januarie and that try from 2008:

[sources:rdm&guardian]