As rugby gears up for the 2015 World Cup, the sport in South Africa "continues to attract controversy over the slow pace of transformation," according to Andrew England of the FINANCIAL TIMES. National and provincial teams "are still dominated by whites, in spite of government attempts to enforce quotas." Former Springboks player Kaya Malotana said, “Twenty years since 1995, [and] we are still talking transformation. Now it’s a struggle to identify with it [the Springbok jersey] because it still doesn’t represent all of us.” But a leading sports administrator warns that "if South Africa fails to spread rugby beyond its traditional white base, its status as a superpower in the sport will disappear within a few decades." Willie Basson, a member of the “Eminent Persons Group,” which was set up in '12 to accelerate transformation in sport, said that "the key is the grassroots level." He said, “If we don’t solve this problem with respect to representivity based on access and skill, and capability development, the chances are that we may not be part of the international rugby and cricket scenes 30 to 40 years from now." The South African Rugby Union’s general council passed a “transformation plan” intended to hasten racial change. It included a target of a minimum 50% black representation across all facets of the game -- "on and off the field" -- by '19 (FT, 12/26).
