A properly coached and prepared side would have beaten the Scots,

RUB OF THE GREEN a top read by my great friend Mike Greenaway .enjoy ..who knows what happens on Sat morning

THE last time the Boks lost to Scotland, there were extenuating circumstances in that South African rugby was in one of those once in a generation slumps. In 2002 our rugby had that rare situation of perennially fertile land suddenly being barren. For once, we did not have a crop of good players. Poor Rudolf Straueli and Corne Krige who, as the captain put it, were in the “right place at the wrong time!”
Nevertheless, when the Boks lost by a record 21-6 to a poor Scotland team, South Africa went into a rage. Quite right, too, because, the Springboks never, ever should lose to Scotland. Never! They hardly have any player numbers for a start, and they have precious few resources, especially monetary-wise. They are the one game Italy expects to beat in the Six Nations, and that includes away from home.
So what are we supposes to say when a world champion Springbok team loses to Scotland? Forget about the excuse of 14 players at home injured – the reality is that only four or five of them would be automatic choices for the starting line-up.
Actually there are no excuses at all. A properly coached and prepared side would have beaten the Scots, never mind the rain.
One wonders if the Boks would have lost in Edinburgh, or indeed lost five out of six Tri-Nations matches this year had the meticulously organised Heyneke Meyer succeeded Jake White at the end of 2007. Meyer, the Super 14-winning coach, was ignored by the Saru committee appointed to evaluate the applicants for the job in favour of Peter de Villiers because of despairing political reasons. De Villiers did not have the track record and should have been embarrassed to take the job ahead of Meyer.
Whoever got the job in January 2008, the task was to build on the foundation laid by White and take a World Cup winning side that had an average age of just 26 to the next level. The Springboks should have led the world between World Cups and been favourites for the 2011 title.
Instead, the Boks have floundered once the 2007 momentum died after the 2009 Tri-Nations title. The game plan has not evolved one it. The Boks are currently stuck in no-man’s land.
It is argued that the Springboks cannot have a change of coach just five matches out from the World Cup (England on Saturday and then four Tri-Nations matches next year). It is said that it is too late.
Nonsense! The Boks right now are heading for a repeat of what happened in 2003 when nobody expected them to make it past the quarter-finals – and they were easily proved right. Must we just sit back this time and say, ‘oh well it is too late now.’
The situation is different this time. The Boks have the talent and experience they did not have in 2003, they just need a change of direction and mindset.
And more than anything they need the South African Rugby Union to show some balls.