Fate of Bobo and De Villiers may benefit Boks

It's damage control time for the Springboks - and in all fairness coach Rudolf Straeuli so far has managed rather well.

There can't have been many national coaches with as much rotten luck, injury-wise, unless it was the master himself, Danie Craven, and his ill-fated Springboks on the 1956 tour of Australia and New Zealand.

On that tour, in addition to losing star loose-forward Basie van Wyk early on, Craven's three-quarters went down like nine-pins, with one hamstring injury after another. There were even wild rumours that the Boks had been conned into wearing a Kiwi-designed boot that was specially made to encourage hamstring injuries. (In that respect, rugby hasn't changed at all!)

Straeuli's squad was hit by two crucial injuries in warm-up matches that were designed to give shape to the eventual Test XV. First to go down was Lions' centre Gcobani Bobo and, in the next warm-up match against the Falcons in Springs last Tuesday, supreme irony dictated that Bobo's replacement, Jean de Villiers, would be ruled out by injury. To compound the irony, both players were making a relatively recent return from injuries last season - De Villiers from his Test debut against France, in which he lasted only seven minutes. Bobo, similarly, was hurt in a Super 12 match just as he was beginning to blossom as a player of huge promise.

The choice of Blue Bull Jaco van der Westhuyzen in place of De Villiers is to be welcomed for two important reasons. From a playing point of view, one assumes the reasoning was that Van der Westhuyzen, easily the Boks' most composed and elusive back in the early season Tests before injury caught up with him, would slot in perfectly at fullback, where he is most comfortable these days, allowing Werner Greeff to move up and compete for a position in midfield.

Though they lost two fine midfielders in Bobo and De Villiers, the squad still has a pool of considerable midfield talent to draw on.

A quick glance shows that, in addition to Greeff, the Springbok coach will be able to choose from any one of three others - De Wet Barry, Jorrie Muller and Jaque Fourie - to form a midfield combination that, in attack or defence, should acquit itself with distinction. (They may not be the best individuals around but, properly managed, in a tight contest like the World Cup there's no reason why they shouldn't be up to it.)

Chiefly, however, the most significant reason for welcoming Van der Westhuyzen's selection is that it underlines the promise made by Sports Minister Ncgonde Balfour and Straeuli that merit selection alone would be applied to the choosing of the squad for the World Cup.

Many feared - and, indeed, it was being openly said - that De Villiers would be replaced by a player of colour to preserve the racial demographics of the originally chosen squad: (with Bobo) six blacks and 24 whites. It was even rumoured that special permission had had to be obtained from Balfour for the inclusion of De Villiers in place of Bobo, but that now the position would revert to the original 24/6 split.

That this has been solidly knocked on the head by the selection of Van der Westhuyzen is perhaps the most important development in South African sport since Balfour took over the portfolio from the late Steve Tshwete.

The promised criterion for selection of the squad was merit, with the proviso that, in the case of two players of equal standard, the player of colour would enjoy preference.

After the long history of inequality that blacks in this country have had to endure in every sphere of life, this surely is only fair.

Of course, there are bound to be selections that, regardless of colour, will not find favour with critics and public alike.

But besides Breyton Paulse, a veteran of 39 Tests, a player such as the determined and speedy Ashwin Willemse could return from the tournament a newly established star.

Indeed, looking at the five players of colour who remain in the squad, it can be argued that the promised selection policy has been strictly adhered to.

Not one can be regarded as a token.

Say what you like, that's progress.