Boks: More questions

2003-09-01 10:30

Cape Town - The media and public are still baffled about the exact reasons for the axing of locks Geo Cronje and Quinton Davids from South Africa's World Cup squad, with no-one being able to clearly explain the decision yet on Monday morning.

Media reports focused on possible steps Cronje might take after his omission from the squad and the fact that SA rugby might now be in the dock following his clearance from allegations of racism.

Cronje was lambasted by some local and international media as a "racist" after he was expelled from the Springbok training squad last week pending an investigation. This was after allegations that he refused to share a room with Davids based on racial grounds.

However, while he was cleared by SA Rugby on Saturday he still failed to make the World Cup squad, along with Davids who had completed the training camp.

This, and the nature of Sarfu's statement on the investigation, left more questions than answers.

In the Telegraph newspaper in London and on the Sydney Morning Herald's RugbyHeaven website, Cape Town-based writer Andy Colquhoun wrote: "There were no obvious rugby reasons for Cronje's omission...

"But Cronje's surprising exclusion and the ambivalent wording of a Sarfu statement on an internal investigation into the affair, left supporters still baffled as to what exactly might have happened in the accommodation block of the University of Pretoria's High Performance Institute last Friday."

Straeuli's decision

Sarfu said at the weekend the decision not to select Cronje and Davids was taken by Bok coach Rudolf Straeuli, but he didn't give a plausible explanation when the squad was announced.

In his article in the Telegraph, Colquhoun said "sources close to the squad insisted there had been a racist incident between Cronje and Davids." He quotes an unnamed "member of management" as saying, "It's 100 percent correct."

Colquhoun also refers to the Sarfu statement, which said there was "no conclusive evidence" against Cronje, "but left the door open for further prosecution by adding that disciplinary proceedings were not justified 'at this stage'."

However, the writer acknowledges that the assumption that Cronje was "an unreconciled apartheid-era racist may have been exaggerated."

"Cronje roomed with coloured hooker Dale Santon on the Springboks' fortnight-long Tri-Nations tour of Australia and New Zealand (and for four nights with Davids at the training camp after the incident on the Friday evening and before he was expelled from the camp on the Wednesday evening).

"The night before he was sent home from the squad he was seen playing a three-man card game with Santon and Ashwin Willemse - another black player...

"Cronje has the same white agent as Davids and to make this a typically complex South African story of race is the fact that the agent, Jason Smith, is married to a black woman."

One explanation

Sunday newspaper Rapport offered one explanation of how the story could have landed in the press.

It suggested that Davids might have told some of his Western Province team-mates about the fact that Cronje did not room with him on the first night of the training camp.

Here it might have gathered momentum until it reached the ears of rugby writer Dale Granger, who broke the story in the Cape Argus.

While much of the focus has been on Cronje in the past few days (with political parties like the ANC and DA apologising to him for being fast out of the blocks with condemnation), what is also true is that Davids has become a victim of the circumstances all the same.

WP assistant coach Jerome Paarwater referred to this in Die Burger newspaper on Monday, when he said he was also upset about the way in which the matter had been handled.

His comments emphasised the fact that Sarfu's handling of the matter has provided no real clarity. Paarwater was quoted as saying that the media were focusing mainly on Cronje, but that he had no doubt that Davids had spoken the truth on the matter.

"But the impression is created as if Quinton is the culprit, which is unfair. I know Quinton well. He is an honest, dedicated player. He does not deserve this."

SA rugby has stated that they will be making no more statements on the matter. Given the uncertainty that remain, maybe they should.

Send us your comments by clicking here.

- News24