Provincialism

There has been a lot of talk lately about the majority of the Springbok team being Sharks and Bulls players. The whole scrum is made up of Sharks players besides the locks who are Stormers. The coach has said that he likes to keep combinations together, I would have to agree with him as players who have been playing together for some time do tend to play better as a combination. There have been arguments between fans about players from their province being chosen or not being chosen and who should and shouldn’t be there.

As a Stormers supporter I was upset that there were not more Stormers selected for the Springbok team, but I was acting from a perspective of a Stormers supporter and not that of a Springbok supporter. As a South African I should be more concerned with the overall team and not look at what province a particular player comes from. It should not be the case for everyone either because when they put on the green and gold we all stand together and shout for the same players. I believe that players should be chosen for their talent, regardless of what province they play for. Yes the topic of combinations does affect that because to have a good combination you have to play together. Players should however be given the chance to play together in a Springbok environment in order to build those combinations. Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie are arguably the best centre pair South Africa has ever seen, definitely the most capped centre pairing and at first they played for different provinces but shone in the green and gold.

The make up of the Springbok team should be a collection of the best players in their respective positions and not a group of players that only plays well together. In a Springbok environment there should be a culture and style that goes with the team and no matter who plays, that style should stay the same. For example if you play an attacking style of rugby then changing players shouldn’t change the style. People should stop looking at what province a player comes from and rather look at if he is the best player.