Rugby: Straeuli feels pressure as naked truth revealed
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.
After returning from their quarter-final defeat by New Zealand at the World Cup in Australia this month, the team faces a possible government inquiry into allegations of racism between players almost a decade after South Africa abandoned apartheid white rule.
Straeuli’s methods have been heavily criticised and revelations of a programme closer to a boot camp for elite military recruits than a sports training camp have increased the pressure on him. “We have no comment at this stage,” a spokesman for SA Rugby stated.
One Sunday paper claimed last weekend the controversial camp was designed by the team’s security consultant Adriaan Heijns, a former South African Police special services operative.
The report also claimed that naked players were crammed into foxholes and then were doused repeatedly with ice cold water while the English national anthem and New Zealand’s pre-match haka were played over and over again.
They were also forced into a freezing lake in the early hours of the morning to pump up rugby balls under water.
When some of the players tried to get out they were ordered back into the water at gunpoint, the Sunday Times said.
Team manager Gideon Sam denied that any of the training had been carried out at gunpoint, or that players were forced to crawl naked through the bush.
“Sure, the guys were pushed hard, but that is what preparing for battle is about,” he said when quoted on the team’s website.
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