RUGBY: A photograph of Springbok players huddled naked in a lake shook South African rugby yesterday and loosened Rudolf Straeuli's already weakened hold on his job as head coach, reports Craig Ray in Cape Town

The Star in Johannesburg devoted more than half its front page to a photo of at least 10 naked Springbok players packed tightly together, apparently exhausted and freezing, holding rugby balls or billy cans to preserve their modesty.

It is the latest revelation to come out of the Springboks' pre-World Cup team-building camp in the Limpopo bush two hours' drive north of Pretoria, where players underwent gruelling ordeals intended to build mental strength.

Allegations of psychological torture and physical threats, including being held at gunpoint, have been levelled against the coach and his right-hand man Adriaan Heijns, who is a former special services operative from the apartheid era.

The camp was codenamed "Kamp Staaldraad", meaning "camp steel wire", and it was there that the Springboks were put through a series of torturous and demeaning exercises in the name of team-building and World Cup preparation.

They were sworn to an oath of silence and were "threatened" if the code was broken.

"I can tell you one or two incidents that I think are shocking, but when Straeuli is fired I will tell you all about it," a player who wished to remain anonymous said. "Any guy who speaks will find himself with a problem and he will have to go and play in France or something."

The Sunday Times in Johannesburg reported last weekend that naked players were crammed into foxholes and doused repeatedly with ice-cold water while the English national anthem and New Zealand's haka were played over and over again. The newspaper alleged that they were also forced into a freezing lake in the early hours of the morning to pump up rugby balls under water and that when some players tried to get out they were ordered back into the water at gunpoint.

Straeuli has denied that the players had guns pointed at them and that the regime was inhumane or humiliating.

He has been backed by the team manager Gideon Sam. "Sure, the guys were pushed hard, but that is what preparing for battle is about," he said.

The Springboks' captain Corne Krige was quoted in the South African media on his return from the World Cup as saying that the regime was mostly good.

"It was like the army. You don't necessarily like it, but realise afterwards that it was good for you," said Krige, who did admit to the media that there were aspects of the camp he would recommend never happen again at a rugby camp.

"It was trial and error," said Krige, "but most of it was good."

The merits of the camp remain to be judged however. Straeuli will state the case for keeping his job when the South Africa Rugby Board meets on December 5th. He would reportedly be entitled to over three million rand (e430,000) compensation if he is sacked as his contract still has two years to run. But the board may be saved such a pay-out if it can show this latest episode is regarded as bringing rugby into disrepute by his paymasters.

Heijns's official designation is Springboks' assistant logistical manager but his day-to-day function is that of security enforcer. He patrols the training pitch, looking for "spies" and informers, and accompanies Straeuli wherever he goes. He even denied the Springbok media manager details of which hotel rooms the players were staying in during the Tri-Nations series and informed reception staff that they were not to reveal that information to anyone. "He is there to sort us out," a player said.

"Creativity is killed and a conservative approach is encouraged. You are too scared to think for yourself and if you do, you have to face up to Straeuli," another player said.

Straeuli has overseen one of the most unsuccessful periods in Springbok rugby history. In 2002, Straueli's Boks suffered record defeats by France, England and Scotland. Their elimination in the quarter-finals of the World Cup was preceded in July by South Africa's heaviest ever home defeat to New Zealand.

Straeuli also stands to be judged by Judge Edwin King's inquiry into racism in rugby which was called following allegations made about the Springboks' World Cup preparations by the squad's former media manager Mark Keohane.

As the nation reels in shock, and Springbok players run for cover, Straeuli seems poised to become the ninth Springbok coach to lose his job in 11 years.

Guardian Service