SA should be ashamed

From Mark Els

LONDON -- South African rugby should be embarrassed for treating Jannie de Beer as a second-rate player at the rugby World Cup.

Until the Free State flyhalf kicked an unbelievable five drop goals in the space of 30 minutes at the Stade de France in Paris on Sunday, De Beer was always going to be Springbok coach Nick Mallett's second-choice behind Henry Honiball.

Amid all the praise of De Beer as a wonder flyhalf and the criticism of England for their failure at the tournament, the bare fact has not been lost on the British press that De Beer would not have played against England had Honiball been fit.

De Beer kicked 34 points in South Africa's 44-21 win in the quarter-final on Sunday, slotting two conversions, five penalties and a record five drop goals.

The Daily Mail said: "The Springboks may not admit it publicly, but since their arrival a month ago they have been trying -- with increasing desperation -- to declare Henry Honiball fit so their number one flyhalf could reclaim his rightful place.

"De Beer, summoned into their World Cup squad as an afterthought, had been regarded as nothing more than a stop-gap.

"What he accomplished deserves to be placed in a wider sports perspective, worthy of being talked about in the same breath as Jim Laker's 19 wickets in 1956 and Bob Beamon's leap at the Mexico Olympics in 1968.

"In rugby terms, the Free Stater has equalled those feats.

"England's expensive World Cup operation collapsed in a heap yesterday, their dream of global domination obliterated by the flyhalf the Springboks had been trying to drop all tournament.

"Jannie de Beer, at best South Africa's fourth-choice until three months ago after being made redundant by London Scottish, dropped five goals, a feat never before achieved in more than 100 years of Test rugby.

"That such an improbable character should have been responsible for each one (12 goals from 12 attempts) merely made the whole exercise that much more phenomenal," the Daily Mail concluded.

"De Beer's tally (of five drop goals) eclipsed the old shared world record of three by the length of the Champs-Elysees, and he also claimed a Springbok record haul of 34 points," said The Guardian.

"Not bad for a flyhalf who would have been a spectator had Henry Honiball's hamstring been fractionally better, and who spent last season with London Scottish in the belief that his Test days were over."

Mallett originally named Honiball in his first-choice team to play Scotland in their World Cup opener at Murrayfield in Edinburgh four weeks ago, only to withdraw the Natal flyhalf a day before the match after Honiball had injured a hamstring at practice two days earlier.

De Beer played his second match of the World Cup against Spain as part of Mallett's second-string side and a week later was to be given a rest against Uruguay as Honiball was declared fit and would make his World Cup debut.

But then he was once again withdrawn from the team, a day before the match, because he had in fact not yet recovered.

And so De Beer came back in to the equation to play his third match.

His fourth, against England, proved pay-back time. -- Sapa