Rugby Tri-Nations Series:Australian Rugby Union (ARU) officials have slammed South Africa's decision to send an understrength side to Australia and New Zealand for their remaining Tri-Nations matches.

South Africa picked their best players for their two home matches but picked a second-string team for their away games, sparking a furious response from the Australians.

Springboks coach Jake White said he wanted to keep his best players at home to keep them fresh for the World Cup, but ARU chairman Peter McGrath said the South Africans had broken their word.

"We had previously sought, and received, an assurance that they would be sending their best available test team," McGrath said in a statement yesterday.

"We recognise that the rugby public has purchased tickets for this match in good faith and would feel betrayed by this decision by the South Africans. The ARU understands their outrage."

McGrath said the ARU would be seeking an urgent meeting with Sanzar, the collective body that runs the Tri-Nations and Super 14 competitions, to force South African Rugby (SAR) to change their selections.

"The agreement between us clearly calls for each nation to field its best team and with SAR's decision this is clearly not the case . . . we will pursue this issue and seek to get the decision reversed," McGrath said.

"It may be a Rugby World Cup year and the Springboks may have played five Tests in a row but we face the same situation.

"We all knew the test schedule well in advance, we all knew about the Rugby World Cup."

The row over international team selections has been intensifying ever since England sent a second-string squad to Australia and New Zealand in 1998.

The ARU described England's selection policy as the "greatest sellout since Gallipoli" after the Wallabies thrashed the English 76-0, but that result has done little to deter the Northern Hemisphere teams from continuing to send weakened squads.

Rugby's world governing body, the IRB, have long feared the practice of picking weak teams could eventually kill off Test rugby.

The IRB have already scrapped all inbound tours in the same year as the next World Cup, in 2011, but have been powerless to stop it this year as Ireland, England, France, Wales and now South Africa opted to leave their best players at home and save them for the World Cup.

"South Africa needs to look to a future beyond the World Cup and address these concerns urgently," McGrath said.