No more talk of black and white Boks – only the best Boks!

Has South African rugby turned the corner? Are the Springboks, once considered a white boys club, finally transformed and welcoming to all – black and white?

I believe so. I believe that under the guidance of Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, and head coach Jacques Nienaber, South African rugby has finally left the divided past exactly there.

The change has taken longer than many would have liked it to, but there has been change, and significantly at that. In the last two years fans and coaches and administrators have finally taken the blinkers off and realised that picking black players is not a negative and doesn’t weaken a team.

Finally, many who had blinkers on before now realise just what potential lies within our country when everyone is included and considered for selection.

Our World Cup winning team of last year was more transformed and more representative than any other side at a Rugby World Cup – and they won. And every rugby fan cheered. Colour meant nothing. And I’ve got a feeling that right now, a little under a year since the Boks triumphed in Japan, colour still means nothing.

I don’t particularly like writing pieces about black and white because I’ve always been of the opinion it doesn’t matter. But it does matter, because for too long black rugby players weren’t always considered good enough, were thought of as quotas – there to make up the numbers; weren’t regarded in the same light as their white counterparts.

All they wanted was a chance, a fair opportunity. They didn’t always get that. Until recently, until now.

I have never liked writing about black and white and transformation because I am not knowledgeable enough about it, because I am not black and it has never affected my life. Who am I, after all, to speak about it, write about it?

What I do know though, after more than 20 years of writing about rugby in South Africa, is that I believe black players are finally getting a fair and equal chance. A national rugby coach, and his management team, have finally seen the light.

And what a pleasure and joy it has been to see it happen. And you can only shake your head at those who went before who were so blinded and averse to “opening up” the game to everyone.

This country’s best and most promising players will be in action in Cape Town on Saturday in what has been called the “Springbok Showdown”. It is a match celebrating the best in SA rugby and this country’s return to rugby after six months of inactivity because of the coronavirus. Two teams made up of World Cup winning stars, some grizzled veterans hoping to still play for the Boks, and a bunch of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed youngsters eager to impress will take each other on at Newlands.

The match is something of a mini trial – thus a showcase of the very best in South African rugby. And you know what, the majority of the players who’ll be in action are black players. And, they are all full of class and potential and skill and ability, and their colour means nothing, except that we can look at them and the selections made by Erasmus and Nienaber and the rest of the Boks management team as a triumph and victory, finally, for black players in South African rugby.

If we embrace change and open our eyes to possibilities, South African sport can thrive and dominate on many, many levels, and in a number of different codes. This country has a wealth of talent just waiting for a chance and an opportunity to be discovered and hopefully now rugby – divided on so many levels for so long – has seen the light.

Perhaps, finally, when we all talk and discuss rugby from now on, from the Boks to the Super Rugby sides (or is that Pro 16 teams?) we will not talk of black and white and count the numbers. Hopefully, in rugby, those days are now over, and we can in future talk about players and measure them against each other, man for man, with regards to ability and class and skill and nothing else.

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