South Africa's blind patriotism is shaded with Green and Gold blinkers.

The progress of the Springboers to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, dare I say, was inevitable given their record at this level of competition. Their clinical despatch of the Eagles (USA), in their last Pool game, was awe inspiring. In view of the fact that the USA is a second tier rugby nation, the result was always going to be a forgone conclusion. That said, the only reasonable competitor in the Pool is Scotland, who fielded a second string side against South Africa, and saved their top players for their game against Samoa this coming weekend. The other two teams in the Pool, Japan and Samoa, are also second tier nations ranking above 10 in the IRB rankings. The real test for the Springboers will be in the quarterfinals when they face either Australia (currently ranked number 2) or Wales (ranked number 3).

It is naturally assumed that every South African should be behind the Sprinboers and support them unconditionally for this World cup and every other tournament in future.  It seemed that I was the only outsider rooting for the other team whenever the Springboers played a group match, and my betrayal of the team was met with astonishment, and disgust.   I may have been threatened had it not been family and friends who was subjected to the betrayal. The debate around politics and sport, specifically rugby, always ends in the predictable notion that the two should be kept separate and as such our support for the Springbok team should be unquestionable.  I seriously beg to differ on this notion, given the fact that Rugby as a sport was always mired in political controversy given the segregation ensconced in it during the Apartheid era.  The fact that after 21 years of democracy, we still have a major imbalance in terms of demographic representation in the squad, speaks volumes of the extent to which discriminatory policies are still a controlling force in the sport. Historically, top rugby talent was usually sourced from elite schools and rugby academies as it was assumed that these institutions produced the best the Rugby fraternity had to offer. To this day, the same applies, and broadening the search for rugby talent through other channels, is frowned upon with little effort being made to explore these alternative channels for fresh non-white talent.

Although 8 players of colour out of 32 in the squad were selected, it still did not meet the transformation requirements of 30%.  To add insult to injury, at any point in time thus far in the tournament, only 5 players of colour were chosen, and a minimum of only 3 started each game. The age old excuse of not finding the relevant players of colour who meet the high standards is becoming more boring than a TV soapie. In addition, the assumption that players of colour struggle to perform at this level of competition, is nothing but blatant discrimination. To oppose that argument, the performance of Brian Habana with his World Cup achievements, surpasses any performance by a white South African player in the history of the World Cup, or since we returned from isolation.

What exacerbates the situation is the fact that South African supporters of the game unintentionally turns a blind eye to the administration of the game and is solely interested in a winning team, regardless of the makeup of its demographics, which for all intents and purposes is what all supporters around the world want from their various sporting codes. This suites the SARFU and political establishment quite fine, because as such, they are under no pressure from, especially the public, to do something concrete about transformation in the sport.  As a result, most non-white talented players begging for a chance to play top level rugby never gets to realise their dream of playing for their country or even at Super Rugby level.  Unless rebellious leaders within SARFU take a moral stand and demand transformation, and thus get the South African public to support their efforts, we will always have this quadrennial debate on transformation, which disappears after each World Cup event. Therefore my allegiance to the Springboers in World Cup 2015, is suspended until further notice!