The position of Springbok coach really is a poisoned chalice.

There is just no pleasing everyone, and there’s almost always no pleasing Cosatu, who are going after coach Rassie Erasmus again.

Following the announcement of the Springbok team to face the All Blacks tomorrow, the trade union has accused Rassie of giving preferential treatment to white players.

Via a press release covered on Sport24, here are some of their gripes:

Cosatu said it was “speaking on behalf of many rugby players in South Africa who are enraged by the choices made by Rassie” for Saturday’s Test.

The statement continues: “Rassie has been treating the black Springbok players as second class this entire year. His starting line-up for Saturday is a reversal to white preference players, which exposes his attitude towards black players.”

We knew this was coming the second Bongi Mbonambi was substituted 35 minutes in last week.

You can say whatever you want about the rugby merits of the decision, but Rassie is well aware of the political tightrope he walks. Why didn’t he just wait five minutes, let the teams make it to the changing room, and send out Malcolm Marx for the second half?

He defended the decision by saying that Mbonambi was spent, having not played much rugby before, but it’s the kind of thing that the folks at Cosatu were always going to use.

More from their statement:

“The white players are given special places in the Springbok team ahead of the form black players. Francois Louw has been playing poorly, Handre Pollard has been playing poorly, and Willie le Roux has been playing poorly. Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk has been playing poorly, yet they are not substituted when there are talented form players on the bench.

Mbonambi is substituted on 35 minutes which is entirely irrational and designed to undermine him. Many black players when they do get a chance on the field are played out of their positions, to deny them the prospect to bring their best skills.”

Willie and Faf were pretty poor last weekend, but the fullback and the scrumhalf remain two of the only real game-breakers we have, and players who try to make things happen can blow hot and cold.

Still, Faf might be well advised to take an extra split second or two behind the ruck, because those knock-ons aren’t doing us any favours.

Rassie’s 23-man squad for tomorrow’s match contains eight players of colour, which at 35% is well below the 2019 transformation target of 50% (2018’s target is 40%), but he did also finally take the long overdue decision to appoint Siya Kolisi captain.

We won’t forget that moment when he led the Boks out against England any time soon.

Back to Cosatu’s gripes, which included being disillusioned with Rassie’s dual role as coach and SA Rugby’s director of rugby:

“Rassie clearly cannot do both the jobs but wants to keep the director of rugby position in case he fails as the coach. He has been erratic in his choices and his game plan, refusing to take responsibility for not giving players and combinations a decent chance to build partnerships. Cosatu is raising this concern with SARU before it gets worse and embarrasses the whole country so that decisive action can be taken. Whilst Cosatu would encourage South Africans to support the Springboks, Rassie is pushing black South Africans away from the team with his discriminatory attitude and actions,” the statement concluded.

I think Graeme Joffe might agree that Rassie’s dual role deserves to be scrutinised.

Statements like these by Cosatu only further heap pressure on an already struggling side, and especially someone like Handre Pollard, who is already one half of the equation that forms the most divisive issue in Springbok rugby right now.

The Handre or Elton debate will rage again this weekend. Sadly, with the All Blacks such a superior outfit at the moment, neither of those two men stand a chance of coming out with their heads held too high.

[source:sport24]