Archbishop Desmond Tutu: South African rugby team needs more black players

“Now, nearly 20 years later, I lament the tortoise pace at which

transformation at the highest level is being effected,” the Archbishop

wrote.

His letter comes as the Springboks prepare to compete against Argentina in a

Rugby Championship second-round match on Saturday.

The South African team’s starting 15 will include three players who are

“coloured” (meaning of mixed racial ancestry). The remaining 12 players are

white, and two of the eight players on the bench are black.

Archbishop Tutu wrote that “people of influence” in South African rugby should

prioritise nurturing and developing black players “beyond the point of

allowing them to touch the cusp of team selection, only to be cruelly denied

a taste of the glory”.

“Surely, by the 20th anniversary of our freedom from enforced separateness,

there are a couple of dark horses out there to run with the browns and the

chestnuts in feature races?”

He singled out the exclusion of Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje from the squad, who he

said “was leapfrogged into the team by a paler player”.

The Archbishop, who is a noted fan of the sport – in particular of Cape Town’s

Stormers team – has commented on rugby in the past, in 2010 praising the

first major rugby match to be played in a South African township.

His letter follows a comment made by Oregan Hoskins, president of the South

African Rugby Union, who told the Afrikaans daily Beeld two months ago that

“we need to give black players, specifically ’African blacks’, more chances”

in the Springboks team.

Article source: http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/match_preview/0,,11069_64019_1,00.html

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: South African rugby team needs more black players