Kamp Staaldraad
Kamp Staaldraad (Afrikaans words, translated literally as Camp Steel-Wire, idiomatically Camp Barbed Wire) was a military-style "boot camp" organized as a "team building" exercise for the South African national rugby team, the Springboks, during their preparation for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. When the details of the camp came out in the South African media, it ignited a firestorm of protest that quickly consumed much of the upper administrative levels of South African rugby.
Soon after the Springboks World Cup team was named in September 2003, Boks coach Rudolf Straeuli arranged for the team to go to a police camp in the South African bush, near the town of national anthem while ice-cold water was poured over their heads. During their time in the hole, recordings of God Save the Queen (England's national anthem) and the New Zealand All Blacks haka were played at full volume.
- It was confirmed that firearms were present at the camp, although reports varied as to whether they were ever pointed at anyone.
- The players were forced to crawl naked across gravel.
- They also were ordered to spend a night in the bush, during which they were to kill and cook chickens, but not eat them.
Kamp Staaldraad was almost universally condemned by South Africans. The country's military agreed; a spokesman for the South African National Defence Force pointedly told the Cape Times newspaper that the force never trained its recruits naked, and he knew of no military organization in the world that did so. Many rugby observers also pointed out that trying to eliminate all individuality from a team could be counterproductive, as there are many times during a rugby match when individual initiative can make the difference between victory and defeat.
Straeuli attempted to defend the camp as detail after detail became public; he was eventually pressured into resignation. Higher-ups in the country's rugby establishment initially refused to distance themselves from Kamp Staaldraad; many of them were purged at the same time as Straeuli. The Boks' disappointing results in 2003 (early exit from the RWC; record losses to France, England, Scotland, and New Zealand; a last-minute win over Argentina) were enough by themselves to threaten the jobs of Straeuli and many rugby executives. However, their attempts to defend Kamp Staaldraad apparently were the last straw for many South African rugby supporters, and for many within the rugby establishment who saw the need for a dramatic change in direction.
