Being a black Bok is not easy
Many challenges await in the change rooms
BEING a Springbok is an honour and is often regarded as glamorous, but not so if you are a black player.
The latest Springbok likely to learn of the challenges that come with being a player of colour in the national rugby squad is scrumhalf Rudy Paige.
After his inclusion in Heyneke Meyer’s World Cup squad, much hullabaloo followed with many questioning the wisdom of the nippy player’s inclusion as thirdchoice No 9.
Yet he was one of the standout scrummies in Super Rugby, forcing Francois Hougaard to play on the wing for the Bulls.
“People should know that to be a black Springbok is not as nice as it seems,” former Springbok, Bulls and Griquas loose-forward Thando Manana said yesterday.
It seems many players of colour who have donned the green and gold since the 515th Springbok of all-time Errol Tobias — the first black player to play for the Boks in the 1980s — have put on a happy face while they suffered in silence in the changing rooms.
“It is difficult to be a black player,” former centre Wayne Julies, who debuted for the Boks at the 1999 World Cup, said.
“It does seem that not much has changed [since his playing days]. There is a bit of improvement, but it is not enough.
“In my day you found that the coaching staff never backed you enough as a black player. We never got the game time we needed. That disadvantaged us. It is somewhat still the same today — players of colour are not getting exposure.”
Behind the news headlines and public debates on social media and around braais, it is only the players who know what it is like within the change rooms and team rooms.
What is it really like to be a black player in a Springbok team?
“Black players come into an environment where they are supposed to feel pride as they represent their country, but it is not the case,” said Manana, first selected for the Boks on tour to Argentina and the British Isles in 2000.
The former flanker made the headlines after refusing to be taken through initiation at the Boks, arguing that he had already gone through the traditional Xhosa initiation ritual.
“One has to go into that environment knowing that they will accept no favours . . . The thing is white players also find themselves caught in the middle. It is rough on all sides,” said Manana.
“The truth of the matter is that one is comfortable around their own. If there was a player of colour in the change room, only then would I be more at ease. You find that you have no sense of belonging with the white players.
“I quickly realised that once I was in a team, I was not there to make friends. Rudy [Paige] is now in that situation, but we must also think about all the others who have been there before and those others in the team too.
“We often find that we don’t really know where we belong. The thing is we should not be worried about being embraced by others. As a player of colour, the few blacks who embrace you should be enough; you should be happy.”
Julies — who was also part of the 2007 World Cup-winning side — believes the forced transformation system has helped give many others the platform to showcase their skills.
“That quota tag for a black player is not fair at all,” said Julies.
“I was not happy to be seen as a quota player, but it was only through that system that we were able to get involved [in playing].”
Is there a way in which the invisible colour wall can be broken down in rugby?
“The best way to keep everybody quiet is through performances on the field.
“Once you achieve that, everybody will appreciate you and you will be able to go over those hurdles and succeed,” said Manana.
“Rugby is about camaraderie. There is no space in the game for racial boundaries.
“We can spend hours talking about transformation, but transformation starts from within. We have to ask whether the team is transformed — the players’ minds, hearts, souls — and whether that brotherhood exists among all. It is not about numbers that start a match.”