South African rugby: can you spell ‘Drama Queen’
The more I read about rugby in South Africa, the more I feel like I’m reading some trashy diva piece in the Enquirer or some other bottom-feeding, pop-culture rag. What’s got my knickers in a knot this time? If you have not heard, there is currently a row over the use of the Springbok, an antelope indigenous to South Africa, on the national team jersey (update).
Yes, that’s right. The most serious issue in South African rugby is apparently what mascot to use on the damn shirts. Oh … my … God!
Forget the fact that since the end of apartheid there has been essentially no change in demographics of the national rugby squad. It remains primarily white in a country where 92% of the population is non-white.
Forget that professional European clubs are attracting more-and-more elite players from SANZAR and thus threatening domestic rugby quality and of course the associated profits for the home unions.
Forget that almost 1 year ago South Africa won the Rugby World Cup, again. South Africa first won the championship in 1995 at their first-ever World Cup following the end of the apartheid-era rugby moratorium. The guest of honor at the match was Nelson Mandela who wore the team jersey (which of course sported the famous Springbok logo) and united the country still reeling from apartheid and looking for a positive International beacon for South Africa.
Now, I realize that there is some history of segregation associated with the Springbok emblem, but in a post-apartheid South Africa, pragmatism at times is more important especially when the issue at hand has been such a great source of national pride and unity.
South African politicians understand pragmatism very well as I’ve previously noted. In the build-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup, parliamentary Sports Committee chairman Butana Khompela suggested that player passports might be confiscated if the Springbok world cup squad was not representative of the country’s demographic.
Following the World Cup victory, sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile famously stated:
[Player] quotas are out. We are not going to decide who must be on the team. All we are saying is expose everybody, give them an opportunity. […] Let us put our resources into the development of talent.
Komphela has now called for the abolition of the leaping Springbok.
Clearly these guys are changing their positions based on the winds of their political landscape. Here’s a thought: how about showing leadership rather than chasing opinion polls.
If you want rugby to remain your brightest star on the International stage, stop the jockeying and petty disputes. It generates too much controversy and too much bad press (e.g. Luke Watson’s travelling vomitorium).
Show South Africa and the world that you are serious about change in the national rugby infrastructure. Not sure where to start? Let me see if I can help.
Institute a 25-year plan with benchmarks, audit schedules, guaranteed funding, and a very specific budget to detail how all the young citizens of South Africa would have the opportunity to play rugby. A series of junior academies (U23, U19, U17, U15 etc…) to identify, develop and funnel the exception young athletes to the national team would be a good start.
In summary, let’s try to keep things in perspective. Minister Stofile once called player quotas ‘window dressing for international consumption’ and this row over the national team logo smells like more of the same. A springbok or any mascot is just a symbol. If there is no substance supporting what the symbol represents, then your symbol really is just a drama queen.
(On Oct 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 pm)
I have some suggestions for the SA union for their logo-Sell the space to the highest bidder!
this is the least of the SA rugbys problems, it faces the problem the NZRFU faces, What will be their role in the 21st century world of rugby. Will it become that of sparta in ancient greece- a developer of mercenary rugby players, to breed and develop the players for the money rich northern hemisphere clubs.
International test matches are the profit centers of both unions. Fans though have lost their connection to their local unions and are growing weary of the constant changes happening in the super 14. It is only a matter of time that this disconnect reaches the national stage. The fundamental change in the game of rugby needs to be recognized , you no longer strive to put on the springbok, all black jersary for the pride but for the pound. The fans now it , the players know it, but the unions try and tell us otherwise, silly silly people. A void is developing and some one is going to fill it, me I am off to find out how Toulon are doing, its easier to follow one team.