Frik du Preez treatment is called for

A personal letter to the president – or call it an SOS call – by a world-class scientist and Springbok fan, did little to convince the embattled Bok coach Peter de Villiers that South Africa should change course and embrace a more conservative work ethic in protecting its primary assets, its players, from burnout. But De Villiers simply ignored the advice by Professor Tim Noakes.

Prof. Noakes warned that the current Springbok rugby group has been overplayed to the point of burnout, that some key members of the team are unfit, and that a few players have gone past their sell-by date and may be going downhill fast in 2011 on the eve of the Rugby World Cup.

He has been an outspoken advocate of the philosophy that top players need to play for six to eight weeks, and then recuperate for another six weeks before they are exposed to top-flight rugby.

The Super 14 coaches, and the national coach De Villiers, bluntly ignored this advice and have overplayed some of South Africa’s finest players.

With the home leg of the Tri-Nations two weeks away, De Villiers called on his 29 best players.

With New Zealand virtually assured of the Tri-Nations title, and South Africa's home matches against the All Blacks and Australia little more than ‘dead rubbers’, it would have made sense if the squad were more adventurous and experimental in nature.

The selectors could have done worse than to give opportunities against the All Blacks and the Wallabies to the superb Duane Vermeulen of Western Province, his teammate Tiaan Liebenberg, the gifted fullback Patrick Lambie, the superb Bulls tighthead Werner Kruger, and the athletic loose head of the Cheetahs Coenie Oosthuizen.

Yet, the embattled De Villiers failed to do that. It was his fourth fatal mistake of the international season.

The first was when he did not rest his top players for matches against Wales, France and the short Test series against Italy.

If he had rested his captain John Smit, Victor Matfield, Jaque Fourie, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger, Morné Steyn, Bryan Habana, Ruan Pienaar, Wynand Olivier and Gurthro Steenkamp for those four matches, South Africa might have been a frontrunner for the Tri-Nations title.

Following that fatal error of judgment, De Villiers failed the ‘humility’ test by making bold predictions and telling the world how talented these players were.

He became involved in a trial by media of the referees, and was also embattled in media tug of wars with officials – errors that deterred from the focus on the matches.

Now, South Africa looks set to use the three home games as the launching pad for the rest of its international season.

But with the All Blacks rampant and playing superb attacking rugby, South Africa’s momentum may be halted in the first match of the second half of the Vodacom Tri-Nations competition on 21 August in Soweto.

The selectors opted for only two scrumhalfs in Francois Hougaard and Enrico Januarie.

Hougaard’s choice will be welcomed, as the incumbent Ruan Pienaar is injured.

Hougaard, though, is no Fourie du Preez.

South Africa won the Tri-Nations title in 2009 partially because of the kicking prowess and visionary skills of Du Preez.

Differently stated, South Africa won the aerial battle by pressurising the All Blacks with high kicks. It also won the battle on the ground thanks to the poaching ability of Heinrich Brussouw.

This year, there is no Du Preez and no Brussouw.

And if you have no Du Preez, and his substitutes cannot execute the kicking game to perfection, you need a different tactic.

Hougaard could be an X factor with his incisive breaks, while the Boks could use the combination of Juan de Jongh and Jean de Villiers in midfield as game-breakers; and the powerful running from the back by Frans Steyn to give the wings extra breathing space.

The two questions remain, though: will De Villiers be prepared to change the game plan to allow South Africa to run more, and will he field Steyn?

There was talk of a fallout between De Villiers and Steyn, although De Villiers insisted that Steyn was off the pace in his first and only Test of the year.

If De Villiers allows personal agendas to dictate, as he did in New Zealand with his offence against the referees, South Africa may suffer again.

The ailing Wallabies lost their ninth successive Test against the All Blacks over the past weekend.

South Africa and the Wallabies will decide who the holder of the wooden spoon is when they play in Pretoria on 28 August and Bloemfontein on 4 September, with Australia not having won at high altitude in the Republic since 1963.

It is possible that Australia could break the shackles in one of these two games, particularly due to De Villiers’ failure to embrace a different game plan, or use young stars such as Lambie or Vermeulen.

The match in Soweto would be Smit’s hundredth for South Africa, and he has been hard at work in Durban over the past two weeks to shed some weight and improve his fitness levels.

If he fails to deliver in the next three weeks, it is not impossible that the axe could fall on him. Remember what happened to two former World Cup heroes in Francois Pienaar and Joel Stransky in 1996, after their annus horribilis of 1995?

The same thing could happen to Smit.

It is possible that Smit could reinvent himself and come back fitter and stronger in 2011 to lead the Boks again if he is dropped after underperforming in 2010.

Not a bad idea for De Villiers would be to drop some mediocre senior Boks.

South Africa’s player of the 20th century was Frik du Preez. He was unceremoniously dumped on a few occasions. It was Du Preez’s ability to negotiate these setbacks that made him such an iconic performer.

Perhaps a few senior Boks need similar treatment as that of the great Frik.