COMBINED REPORTS


JOHANNESBURG -- All is not rosy at the Rugby Union World Cup.


Even though the South African team has been trumpeted as a product of the new non-racial nation, there are reports that team members have displayed racist attitudes.


Also, attendance is less than expected despite black South Africans having at least temporarily suspended their fixation with soccer to cheer on the Springbok team they used to associate with apartheid.


That is a complete reversal of the old days before the dawning of all-race rule in April last year, when black South Africans from President Nelson Mandela down used to support on principle whichever foreign team was playing against the Springboks.


But on the eve of the tournament, Mandela made a high-profile visit to the Springbok training camp and attended the game the following day.


"The general mood has been support for the Springboks," said black radio talk show host Dan Moyane, who has fielded a host of calls from recent black converts to rugby.


Despite the president's support, reports surfaced from the visitors' camp after the quarterfinal against Western Samoa that the Springboks -- all white except for winger Chester Williams -- had been using racial epithets against black players on the Samoan team.


On Tuesday, South African manager Morne du Plessis rejected the allegations.


Black attendance at World Cup games has been sparse except in the Eastern Cape towns, where the game was introduced to blacks by British settlers in the last century.


Foreign sales are also off. Instead of a projected 50,000, perhaps 25,000 fans will visit by the time the Cup ends June 24, according to the latest South African Tourist Board estimates.


Optimistic tour operators had to cancel blocks of bookings for hotels and airline seats, and tens of thousands of tickets have gone unused at each match, including the quarterfinals without the host team.


Tickets are priced far above the means of most South African blacks, at 66 rand ($18.50) for the cheapest seats, up to 220 rand.


The hotel vacancy gap has not been filled by normal tourist or corporate travel, since such people were scared off by reports earlier this year that no rooms would be available.


Moyane said blacks may not have flocked to the games but many had watched on television. "If South Africa win the final, they will be celebrating in the black townships." Meanwhile, some white, right-wing extremists have found themselves on the outside, not looking in.


"It's the Mandela team," said Fred Rundle, spokesman for the far-right Afrikaner Resistance Movement. "I wouldn't go if you paid me.


"I support any team that's playing against the Springboks."


That statement found an odd echo from Northern Ireland.


Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, the voice of the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, who is currently touring South Africa.


He said he thought Belfast's Republicans would not support the English in their semifinal against New Zealand.


"We'll cheer for whoever's in the opposition," Adams said, laughing.


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