Rugby and race in South Africa: Joe Humphreyson why a Springbok victory may trigger more recriminations than feelings of unity in South Africa.
Jake White reckons he has the toughest managerial job in world rugby. "South Africa is the only country where if a winger is injured, you are obliged to change the prop," the Springboks coach said this week - in reference to the informal racial quotas surrounding his team. "No other country comes close to resembling the South African scenario . . . But I accept that as this is my country."
Certainly, White's situation is unique. No other rugby coach has had to juggle the contradictory demands of the public and of politicians to the same extent as the 43-year-old former schoolteacher. And, regardless of tonight's result, he is in the particular situation of facing the possible sack because of the small number of black players in the current squad.
On face value, White appears to have a case to answer. When South Africa won the World Cup in 1995, on the country's return from apartheid-era banishment, there was just one non-white player in the starting XV - winger Chester Williams. Tonight, there are expected to be just two such players: Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen.
Both, like Williams, come from the Cape "coloured" community - which is politically significant, as this minority population traditionally played rugby, albeit in segregated circumstances, during the apartheid era. Critics, with an eye towards transformation, ask where are all the blacks?
"Africans" make up 80 per cent of South Africa's population yet only a single representative - the fourth-string winger Akona Ndungane - made this year's 30-man squad.
While this may seem like a failing of the coach, it should be noted White has capped more "players of colour" than any of his predecessors - a total of 23 over the past four years. He has also repeatedly expressed a desire to select more non-whites but his plans have been undermined by the country's largely mean-spirited clubs - clubs which have traditionally given black players scant opportunities on the pitch.
"I'm always conscious of the transformation expectations in my job," White once said.
"My biggest fear is picking someone who isn't prepared and that's why I need as many black players as possible getting game time at Super 14 and Currie Cup level."
Last year, the coach broke new ground by selecting the talented hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle as the Springboks' first black captain.
Those campaigning for change initially welcomed the move but quickly came to view it as a stalling tactic. Attitudes hardened when Ralepelle got injured and pulled out of the squad for France, with Butana Komphela - an outspoken member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) - suggesting earlier this year the government should revoke the Springboks' passports unless they became more representative of the "rainbow nation".
"In principle, we can't allow a team that does not reflect the South African picture to represent our country," said Komphela, who is chairman of South Africa's parliamentary portfolio committee on sport. The ANC politician has consistently argued South Africa would be better off with a losing, multiracial rugby team than a winning, almost entirely white one.
"We should be saying we are not going to win for the next five years while we transform so that one day when we do win, we all win as a country, with no black and white issues," he said.
Komphela has become something of a hate figure for those Afrikaners who believe politics has no place in sport. Yet his views attract a certain amount of sympathy from rugby-playing blacks, some of whom pointedly support the All Blacks ahead of their own national side in international competitions because of the more diverse racial make-up of the former.
There are undoubtedly pockets of change in South African rugby. Small but hugely enthusiastic clubs have recently sprung up in places like Soweto, the township near Johannesburg that 30 years ago saw the birth of the black freedom struggle. The South African Rugby Union (Saru) has rolled out an expensive recruitment drive in poor communities across the country. It has also drawn up plans for a radical overhaul of rugby's administration, promising - among other things - a new "moral consensus" on public participation in rugby.
At the same time, however, there has been little increase in the number of black spectators at Super 14 and international fixtures. Those from the majority community who had been attracted to the sport have stayed largely on the fringes, if not invisible.
Forget momentarily about the colour of the people on the pitch today, and look at the colour of the people in the stands. Apart from the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, and members of his entourage, the camera operators in the Stade de France will have difficulty sighting any other non-whites wearing green and gold - and perhaps this is the greatest indicator of all of how little has changed in South African rugby since 1995.
The occasion of South Africa's first World Cup triumph stood out for a number of reasons but chief among them was the manner in which blacks joined whites in wildly celebrating. Historian Albert Grundlingh described the win as a "red-letter day" for South Africa, and as a "rare historical moment". But, he said, the positive impact of the triumph quickly faded over time, noting, "there was undoubtedly a failure to build on the momentum of the World Cup."
Some believe the rot set in almost as soon as the tournament ended, with the sacking of reforming figures in the Springbok camp. By 1996, some fans had resumed waving the old South African flag at international matches. While the practice has since declined, and is today condemned by Springbok players and coaches alike, a small number of South African supporters were seen last year unfurling the discredited, apartheid banner at a fixture in Twickenham.
Perhaps more significantly, minor reforms that were initiated in 1995 have failed to catch on.
Proposals to create a "more inclusive" name for the Springboks - "Amabokoboko", a Xhosa translation of the team name, being one of them - were quietly ditched. Many black supporters are riled by the fact their white counterparts tend only to sing the latter verses of the national anthem - namely those in Afrikaans and English - and generally hum the earlier verses that are in African tongues.
Prof Grundlingh, a sports historian based at the University of Stellenbosch, said the positive impact of the 1995 win could well have been overestimated because of hype surrounding the event.
"The sense of unity was not real but it was deemed to be real," he said, adding that the victory appeared to mean more to Afrikaners than blacks.
"If the Springboks win on Saturday there will be a general sense of national achievement," he said. "But I can't see that black people will be decidedly enamoured in the same way that they were deemed to be in 1995."
Ironically, a victory for South Africa may trigger more recriminations than feelings of unity - as each side in the transformation debate goes to work in interpreting the outcome for their own ends. Those impatient for change are already discussing plans for a new Springbok side that would see 10 black players in the starting XV - possibly built around a new captain in Ralepelle.
Whether White will feature in such plans time will tell. Komphela visited the coach in France during the group stages of the tournament to wish the team luck but this week the politician said, "The ANC will never support Jake White if he bids for the second term."
More senior figures in the party have been less dogmatic and this week spoke in a conciliatory tone about White's contribution. Nelson Mandela has recorded a glowing video tribute for the team, and Jacob Zuma - the ANC's deputy president - said yesterday that the Springboks had "represented the country well".
Meanwhile, White has been careful to avoid saying anything that could be perceived as criticism of the South African government. He has avoided directly commenting on rumours of a radical Springboks overhaul in the weeks to come. But that hasn't stopped him from using those same rumours to gee up his charges for tonight's clash.
"After this tournament, massive political pressure is going to be exerted to pick a Springbok side based more on colour than merit," he said. "This is a huge unspoken motivation for them (the players) - to show they deserve to keep their team."
He said he believed a World Cup win would not buy him any more time: "But what it will do is buy South African rugby some time to work out, if it is smart enough, to hang on to this group of players and move on together for the sake of the game in the entire country.
"This is an immensely bright group of guys and they know the stakes. They're playing to win the World Cup - but they're also playing for the future."
Race by numbers in South African sport
'They're playing to win the World Cup - but they're also playing for the future'- Jake White
Rugby
One ethnic black African - Akona Ndungane - and five coloured players are included in the Springboks' 30-man World Cup squad. This represents no change from 2003, when there were six non-whites in the squad.
None of the five South African teams playing in the Super 14 tournament fielded more than three coloured players in their starting line-up this season.
Cricket
The Proteas featured seven non-white players in their 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup earlier this year.
While only one was a black African - Makhaya Ntini - the breakdown satisfied the game's racially conscious administrators.
In June 2006, Ashwell Prince became the first non-white man to captain the formerly all-white South Africa team.
Soccer
All the current squad are black or coloured, except the goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez.
The number of whites in the squad has declined in recent years, from a post-apartheid high of just three in the 22-man World Cup squad for 1998. Much to the annoyance of some whites, administrators say football doesn't have to undergo transformation because blacks were never prohibited from playing it.
