Straeuli can only blame himself

One has to take it on trust. I personally never heard Nick Mallett say it. But I've read often enough the quote attributed to the former Springbok coach and No 8 - "I may not have been a great coach but I was a great selector".

Judging by his record, he doesn't give himself enough credit as a coach but, yes, he certainly was an astute judge of talent.

Yes, even if his excitement at the discovery of such a rare talent as the youthful Bobby Skinstad seduced him into believing that at all cost he had to have the elegant No 8 in his side for the 1999 World Cup - fit or otherwise.

It's undeniable Skinstad has talent. Loads of it.

Current Springbok mentor Rudolf Straeuli's stocks as a coach rank with the lowliest on the coaching barometer these days. Statistics bandied about lately graphically illustrate this. Since he took over from Harry Viljoen 18 months ago, Straeuli's Springboks have played 23 Tests, won 12 and lost 11. They scored 70 tries with 57 against.

But it is as a selector that he's failed so abysmally.

A good selector has two chief qualities - consistency and decisiveness. He doesn't chop and change. He nurtures the players he identifies as possessing the talent he requires, and shows by consistently choosing that player he has faith in. That faith is generally repaid by progressively improving performances.

In his time in charge Straeuli has used a total of 71 players in those 23 Tests, but the inconsistency of his vision - and uncertainty about players - is reflected in the fact that 27 of that number have been used in more than one position.

So, in fact, when his selections are totalled they come to 98, not 71.

Of course, some of these selections reflect injuries - of which Straeuli, to be fair, has had his fair share - or sudden loss of form.

But was it sudden form losses that caused Straeuli to juggle so mightily, or was it his initial judgment of players that was flawed?

Some of his more classic errors of judgment include the selection of Butch James at inside centre on last year's overseas tour. It fitted in with Straeuli's insistence on the crash-ball approach, but simply didn't work mainly because James is temperamentally and physically, as regards pace, unsuited to the centre position.

Of course injuries, on occasion, played havoc with Straeuli's plans. But why did Jaco van der Westhuyzen, for example, have to wait for injuries to two centres, Jean de Villiers and Gcobani Bobo, before getting the nod for the World Cup at fullback?

And why take five specialist fullbacks to the tournament? What earthly purpose did that serve - except to underline his own indecisiveness?

In the modern era, where the emphasis for good reason is on tries - for greater spectator enjoyment - the Springboks' chosen style of play has been archaic, to say the least.

Look at how it's reflected in the Boks' tries for (70) and against (57) statistics. And it has to be taken into account that the picture would have been far bleaker without the wins over Uruguay (11), Georgia (7), Samoa (8 twice) and Argentina (6). That means 32 of the 70 came from games against acknowledged weaker countries.

There's the worrying factor, too, that in two Tests against England the Boks weren't able to score a single try, and the same applied to the 29-9 RWC quarter-final defeat by the All Blacks.

It's striking that the backs particularly have looked all at sea, directionless and lacking in self-belief since the departure of Australian backline guru, Tim Lane.

The honourable thing for Straeuli would be voluntarily to step down and let someone better equipped (Andre Markgraaff/Bob Dwyer?) take over and get on with the Boks' resuscitation as a world class team.

Even on the evidence of their disappointing World Cup efforts in Australia, there is plenty of prime talent. Several produced enough evidence of it in Australia, especially the likes of Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Ashwin Willemse (the Bok find of the tournament), De Wet Barry (don't forget the injured Marius Joubert, De Villiers and Bobo), Derick Hougaard (Andre Pretorius still has plenty to offer, so does Brent Russell).

There's forward class aplenty, too - John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield (with more aggression to go with his other skills), Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith, Danie Rossouw and others left at home.

Get the right coach. Get out there. And get on with it!