Much has been said about Peter de Villiers’ insistence on picking players that apparently need a rest, experts on the human condition, ex-rugby players, and everyone has had a go at old SNORRE, and generally the consensus is that this has been somewhat of a bad idea. Well, let’s have the Saint play a bit of Devil’s Advocate…

What pray thee, does the players say?

No-one eluded to having been in contact with Matfield & Co. , no-one published a word of their opinions on the matter, not so much as an anonymous post somewhere. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say, that they haven’t been asked at all…not that you’d get a straight answer from them at any rate, owing to contractual obligations, job security and all that.

But is it really as bad as everyone says?

If my job consisted of 80-odd minutes of work a week, including about 20 to 25 hours worth of preparation, keeping in mind that it is a job that I myself chose to pursue, would it really be so bad?

I happen to know three gentlemen…and I use the word gentlemen in the broadest sense of the word, who work on an oil-rig, off the coast of Britain somewhere. These guys toil around 12 to 18 hours a day, 5 to 7 days a week (depending on the situation), never leaving their stations, never having ice-baths, massages or having physiotherapists or gynaecologists or whatever some rugby players these days use, fussing over them day after day…

Yes, they get a six-month break after six months, but I believe the physical strain on their bodies and their mentality during those months on the water, could be somewhat worse than what a professional rugby-player endures.

Haven’t heard them really complaining about fatigue and time off and such, because the money is good, and that is why they are there in the first place. Not for the love of their job, or because it is expected of them, no. They are in it, to cash out!

Now old SNORRE is working some Boks into the ground, because he is forcing them to do their jobs. Really? I mean…seriously?

Many people feel, send over a B-Team to the Muddy Isles, (this despite the IRB having said that they’ll have none of that anymore), and have the B-Teams exposed to Test-Rugby first hand.

Wow, am I the only one who remembers two superbly talented young players from Griquas a few seasons back? Went by the names of Gaffie du Toit and Dave von Hoeselin. You might be forgiven for not stumbling onto their names immediately, because they were blooded against the NZ All-Blacks in one of the cruelest actions ever by a Springbok coach, and subsequently their careers never came to fruition after that. They were damaged goods.

So, our idea for building a Springbok team, is to send 22 young guns into the unknown, playing on fields and in conditions, completely alien to most South Africans, and expect them to come back better, wiser players?

I am sorry, this should have been done prior to WC 2007 already, a player or two at a time, never a whole team, Jake White is just as much to blame as today’s lord of the rings and his two hobbits!

Is sending a bunch of greenback forwards over to the muddy isle fair towards Lambie and Jantjes in their Springbok debuts at 10? Is it fair to those forwards? Where should these players’ mentoring come from? The coaches? The opposition maybe? That arrogant Keo and his bunch of ass-clown rugby experts over the internet? Should they follow our extremely valuable advice maybe? I don’t think so, because in reality, none of us has the foggiest idea of what it takes to do what it takes.

What the hell are we doing? I highly doubt that Victor Matfield, John Smit, Bakkies Botha and even Fourie du Preez, Danie Rossouw and the rest of the old guard will really be an asset at the 2011 World Cup, but they could be immensely valuable NOW, mentoring their replacements, handing over the flame as it were. And for that they need to be where the action is, physically involved on a first-hand basis, in Europe.

Rugby players should stop being sissies, and do what they are paid and pampered to do, which is performing, on and off the field.