Rugby Union: Botha preserves leading Springbok status

WHEN it came down to it, the South Africans could not bring themselves to tear down their rugby icon - not yet. So, despite poor form and a nagging injury, Naas Botha will lead the Springboks against France at Stade Gerland on Saturday.

Howewer, the team announced last night contained seven changes from the line-up which was trounced by Australia in August. There are five new caps - not such a surprise given the length of time South Africa had been out of the international reckoning.

More surprising was that the full-back Hugh Reece-Edwards and hooker Willie Hills had been preferred to Theo van Rensburg and the former Leicester player Harry Roberts.

Reece-Edwards has made it on the strength of an outstanding display in Tuesday night's 41-12 win over Provence-Cote d'Azur in Marseilles, while the weakness which crucially counted against Roberts was his throwing-in at the line-out.

Hennie le Roux showed in that revivalist victory that he is the outside-half more likely to get his backs into fluent motion. But in the end Botha's experience and the phenomenal distances he can kick decided the choice in his favour.

'Le Roux kicks the ball 20 yards, Botha kicks it 70 yards. Le Roux runs the ball, Botha doesn't,' John Williams, South Africa's coach, said. You pays your money . . .

Nor should we forget that Botha has accumulated 280 international points, a South African record worthy of special note given that the Springboks have been boycotted for nearly all of his career. Still, at 34 he increasingly represents the past whereas Le Roux, 25, has a big future.

This is the way it has been portrayed in the newspapers back home. One South African correspondent cruelly quipped that 'Botha without the ball is as toothless as an old hag', the point being that the South African pack were not providing him with enough possession for him to be effective. That is, they did not do so until they saw off the provincial selection in Marseilles.

Tuesday's big win has picked up the spirits of the squad more than seemed possible amid the gloom of the first three fixtures. Some of the Springbok back play was of the highest quality, with five tries a decent return from a dominant performance and none conceded an equally telling statistic.

'Their score is going down; ours is going up,' Williams said.

The Springboks also won the fight - the effect of which could turn out to be as important as the result itself.

It was an ugly 60 seconds or so in which virtually every player was involved and, had it gone on any longer, the South African replacements on the touchline would have joined in too.

With perfect timing, the incident proved that the touring team will not submit to French intimidation, and when Saturday comes that will be of incalculable benefit.

SOUTH AFRICA (v France, Lyons, 17 October): H Reece-Edwards (Natal); J Small (Transvaal), D Gerber (Western Province), P Muller (Natal), J Olivier; N Botha (Northern Transvaal, capt), G Wright (Transvaal); J Styger (Orange Free State), W Hills (Northern Transvaal), H Rodgers (Transvaal), A Malan (Northern Transvaal), A Geldenhuys (Eastern Province), W Bartmann (Natal), T Strauss (Western Province), A Richter (Northern Transvaal).

Australia have named a Test line-up for their first Irish tour match against Leinster at Lansdowne Road, Dublin on Saturday.

AUSTRALIA: M Roebuck; P Carozza, J Little, T Horan, D Campese; M Lynagh (capt), P Slattery; T Daly, P Kearns, E McKenzie, R McCall, J Eales, W Ofahengaue, D Wilson, T Gavin. Replacements: D Nucifora, D Crowley, T Coker, A Ekert, A Herbert, D Smith.