The Australian's Wayne Smith vents his spleen over the Springboks decision to leave 21 players in South Africa prior to their tour of the southern hemisphere and asks SANZAR to investigate the matter.
"The real question, now that the farcical exercise with the Springboks-Lite has mercifully run its course, is what Rassie Erasmus has been up to in Rustenburg for the past fortnight with the 21 "injured" South African players.
Just how blatant a slap in the face South Africa delivered to its two SANZAR partners by sending its B team to Australia and New Zealand will only be known when the Springbok side to play the Wallabies in Durban on August 14 is announced.
But irrespective of whether a handful of top players are still missing because of injury, the fact is South Africa had planned months ago to fob off its second-stringers on Australian and New Zealand crowds and reserve its best side for its own spectators.
The ploy is being touted in some quarters as a masterstroke, designed to deliver the Springboks to the World Cup fresh, fit and ready to defend the title they won in 2007. That may be, but it is also rude, discourteous and utterly insulting to the two other nations contesting the Tri-Nations series and should never be allowed to happen again."
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