De Villiers includes 11 black players in squad

SPRINGBOK COACH Peter de Villiers has selected an unprecedented 11 black players in his 30-man squad for Test matches against Wales in Bloemfontein and Italy in Cape Town next month.

De Villiers, who took over from Jake White at the end of last year, said that his squad was selected on merit but declined to go into detail about his selection process or thoughts.

The picking of more than one third black players was a major talking point at the announcement yesterday and brought back into the arena the reasons why White resigned just 12 days after winning the World Cup with South Africa last year.

White had stubbornly resisted pressure to include more black players on the Springbok team and faced pre-World Cup threats that the government would force quotas on him if he didn't follow their wishes. He persisted with his selection-on-merit rule.

White subsequently named six non-white players in his squad for the World Cup and two of those, wingers JP Pieterson and Bryan Habana, took to the field for the final against England in Paris.

Despite winning, White fell on his sword after the South Africa Rugby Union (SARFU) had made it known his contract could not be extended unless he re-applied for the job, which he refused to do.

Because of the racial mix of yesterday's squad, de Villiers has again raised the issue of the quota system favoured by many politicians who wish to see more black faces on the Springbok team.

The coach, however, insisted his selection was based on merit, yet he sidestepped the media's line of questioning.

"I don't know how many players of colour we've chosen and I don't care," he said at the news conference. "The squad was picked entirely on merit and every player named deserves his spot.

"It wasn't easy cutting down the squad to 30, and that is how it should always be. A lot of guys put up their hands and I want to make it clear that the Springbok door is not shut to anyone."

The whole issue reaches back to the apartheid years, when rugby and its Afrikaner base was strongly associated with the regime.

Previously, the highest number of black players in the Springboks was nine in a 28-man squad in 2005 and last year. Former Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli's 2003 World Cup squad included six black players.

There are also four uncapped players in the squad, with Stormers prop Brian Mujati, Sharks prop and fan favourite Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira, the towering Stormers lock Andries Bekker and Sharks wing Odwa Ndungane who gets in ahead of his 11-test twin brother Akona, who is one of a number of notable omissions. Others include JP Pietersen, Johann Muller, Wynand Olivier and Jannie du Plessis.

A number of established names that were on the original squad but are sidelined due to injury include Heini Adams, Meyer Bosman, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Zane Kirchner, Wikus van Heerden and Duanne Vermeulen.

SOUTH AFRICAN SQUAD:(Backs): Gcobani Bobo, Tonderai Chavhanga, Bolla Conradie, Jean de Villiers, Peter Grant, Bryan Habana, Adrian Jacobs, Butch James, Conrad Jantjes, Ricky Januarie, Percy Montgomery, Odwa Ndungane, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Steyn. (Forwards): Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, Bismarck du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Brian Mujati, Danie Rossouw, John Smit (c), Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthro Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Joe van Niekerk, Luke Watson.