Fresh from the latest bitter dose of South African rugby history last weekend, the SA Rugby Union asked the nation to look within and ask themselves what more they could have done differently in aid of the Springbok cause.
It is a novel approach, but one must seriously wonder if Saru president Mark Alexander and his league of gentlemen have done enough introspection themselves.
In a period when the Bok emblem has withered into a pale shadow of its formidable former self, there is no one man to blame, but there is a body whose job is the advancement of the game.
It’s their job to direct the flow of the game at all levels. It’s their job to ensure there is a path we can all see, one that encourages youngsters to embark on, and for the cream of our crop to stay on it, even as the lure of riches from around the world is thick in the air.
Alas, the Bok has become less and less of a priority, seemingly to players and administrators.
The voices of public discontent that have shot across from South African accents responding to foreign questions speak of how deep the hole has become.
There used to be a time when a national player would never dare speak of the administration and its shortcomings in public, for fear of never getting a look in again.
The national emblem was sacred, the repercussions dire for anyone who spoke out against the establishment.
Sadly, a lack of leadership has seen players grow ever disillusioned, and one by one they have seen international caps as a hobby instead of the precious pieces of national pride they used to be.
The indecision around players who ply their trade overseas being eligible for national duty is just one of the many issues that cloud the horizon. That is the fault of Alexander and his fellow suits. They and their predecessors are as much to blame as Allister Coetzee’s increasingly scatter-gun approach to selection this year, and all that has snowballed into a series of Bok funerals over the past year.
These are tough times to be an SA rugby follower - the toughest, possibly - and that is not just down to the results on the field. All great teams go through barren spells. Just look at Australia’s cricket team over the past few months.
But a change in fortunes doesn’t come about by chance.
Even when Australia, as they should, secure the final Test in Adelaide, you can be sure there will be a long, hard look at just how the most successful Test side have slipped so far down the pecking order. They will ask themselves how South Africa dare stroll in and win three Test series on the trot. And they will vow to never let it happen again.
Australia’s cricket community has been honest and brutal in their assessments, a right earned by having done it before, themselves. But they have offered suggestions, too, because it hurts them to see a national team in decline.
There will be those who say Australian cricket doesn’t have half the problems South African rugby is saddled with. Politics, they will scream.
These are convenient excuses, as South Africa’s cricketers have shown, with a team picked from all corners, and every new player backed to the hilt by one and sundry.
South African rugby has lost its way because it changes its mind every few minutes, and no one is man enough to take control.
Everyone, from Alexander to Coetzee, is too indecisive to take the reins and say they will lead South African rugby in an urgent, new direction.
Recall Eddie Jones’s opening gambit as England coach? It stank of certainty, conviction. Coetzee’s opening squad hinted at the same, but he has spent the next eight months back-tracking on that train of thought.
Such contradiction doesn’t breed confident players, or even loyal players. It breeds fear, indecision and a culture of players looking after their bank balances before buying a trophy cabinet.
It’s every man for himself.
Alexander has to curb that culture before the rebuild even has a prayer of beginning. If not, he needs to look at himself and ask if others can perhaps do more for South African rugby.
This is a time for strong leadership, on and off the field.
As a proud rugby nation, we can never, ever go through another 2016. Ever.
*Zama won the Sports Feature Writer of the Year and Sports Columnist of the Year awards at last week’s SAB Sports Awards.
Sunday Independent