Rugby: Straeuli feels pressure as naked truth revealed

PHOTOS of Springbok players huddled naked up to their waists in a lake rocked South African rugby yesterday, piling pressure on coach Rudolph Straeuli to quit after his team’s World Cup exit.

Johannesburg’s ‘Star’ daily gave over half its front page to a photo of at least 10 naked Springbok players packed tightly together, apparently exhausted and freezing, holding rugby balls or billy cans in order to preserve their modesty.

The paper said the picture was taken during the Springboks’ pre-World Cup team-building camp in the bush two hours drive north of Pretoria, where players underwent gruelling ordeals intended to build mental strength.