Don't sell the paying public short

So far the decision to give the Springbok coach greater power in determining who does what in the Super 12 has been a success.

By having the four local coaches working under him, Rudolf Straeuli has assured game-time for those players that he wants to see in action - and in the positions that he wants to see them play.

The dramatic improvement in black representation in the Super 12 has been well documented, so has the infusion of youth. The South African Super 12 teams may not be challenging for the title as we go into the last week of the round-robin, but I happen to agree with Crusaders coach Robbie Deans in his view that there is a heck of a lot of talent in this country.

If you accumulated all the ages of the players in the South African squads in this year's Super 12 and divided them by the number of players who had made appearances, you would find that the average age is a lot lower than in previous years.

Although Straeuli is the first to admit some teams have suffered for a lack of experience, it is probable that these young players will grow. Provided Straeuli gets his way and these players are kept in the system and continue to be encouraged, they should not suffer for their early blooding into the highest level.

Having the power vested in the Springbok management has also brought another positive spin-off which should become more apparent later in the year. For the first time the issue of over-use of players is being looked at scientifically and the national management is doing everything it can to protect their assets from burn-out.

Instead of allowing the Super 12 coaches to drive players to the limit of their physical ability, Straeuli has stepped in when he has deemed it necessary and when he feels a player might be carrying a slight injury which could become more serious.

It was for this reason that Corne Krige did not lead his team against the Bulls four weeks ago (sadly, he came back from his rest and was injured within 10 minutes of his comeback, but such is life!) and others, such as Joe van Niekerk, have been used sparingly so that they do not get ruled out of the international season.

South Africa are not alone in adopting this approach, and this was made clear by Deans in our conversations during the course of last week. Deans' own team, the Crusaders, have suffered for what he called lack of continuity in selection, something he attributed to the need to rest players in the national interests.

Richie McCaw did not play for the Crusaders against the Stormers at Newlands last weekend for that very reason and generally when there has been an injury Deans has taken a conservative view and opted for the better safe than sorry approach.

Now that the final weeks of the Super 12 season are upon them, you can expect the Crusaders to become a more stable team with first choice players being returned to the starting time where it is possible. As Scott Robertson, the All Black No8 said to me, now is the time for the players to hit the straps and head towards their peak, not any earlier.

This approach by both the All Blacks and the Springboks is in line with what sports scientists like Professor Tim Noakes have been saying for a long time. Noakes holds the view that the southern hemisphere teams are all dead wood when they go on their November tours of the northern hemisphere as they have simply played too much rugby.

Springbok prop Ollie le Roux summed up the problem quite neatly: "We are expected to peak when it matters, but it is not physically possible for us to peak for the Super 12, the home tours to South Africa, the Tri-Nations, then again for the Currie Cup and finally for the end of year tour".

But while giving the Springbok coach the power to call the shots in the Super 12 has all the above positive spin-offs and has to be regarded as an overall success, there are small things that bother me.

Earlier in the year this column tackled the issue of drafting players. So far it has to be said that Straeuli has been true to his word of taking geographical location and rugby culture into account when it comes to assigning players to different regions.

As long as regions have first call on players that have been produced by their provinces, I have no problem with the policy and even the Stormers, who have more home-grown talent than most, have had to draw liberally from elsewhere in their attempt to overcome a debilitating injury crisis.

What does worry, however, is the nagging fear that in the attempt to put Springbok interests first, the national management might neglect what the Super 12 should really be all about - namely a competition which appeals to the public and draws fans into stadiums.

I could see the decision to rest Bob Skinstad from this weekend's clash between the Cats and Stormers at Newlands coming weeks ago (the Bok communication has been great this year). But while it is undeniable that the player should be rested at some stage of the Super 12, I wonder if the timing of his rest is in the best interests of the broader public.

Many were looking forward to seeing Skinstad return to Newlands to play against his former team and it did add some much needed spice to an otherwise unremarkable last weekend for the South African teams.

History has shown that local fans tend to flock to derby matches sooner than to games against overseas opposition, and it has been the appearance of a player like Skinstad opposite one like Rassie Erasmus that has made this so.

There has been a lot of talk over the years about the derby matches being too intense and it may be that the Bok management are protecting Skinstad here from what they feel would be the unnecessary hype which normally precedes a game of this nature. But whether you agree or disagree with the sentiments expressed, is it not this hype that makes rugby the mass appeal game that it is and which keeps the stadium owners in pocket?

With the national coach in charge, and understandably wanting players involved in his Springbok squad to get along and not take pot-shots at each other in public, there is a danger that derby matches could become so watered down that they will not be worth attending.

Yes, there is a World Cup later on this year, but it is in Australia and does not feature on the list of matches on the Newlands season tickets. The drive to put the World Cup first is understandable, but with the Currie Cup already to be played under-strength and who knows what the various national selection panels will do when it comes to the Tri-Nations, there must also always be some responsibility to the most important people in the game - the paying and the viewing public.