Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers says Heyneke Meyer's selections for the third-place play-off 'took hope away from our children'.

De Villiers, whose Bok starting XV that lost to the Wallabies in the 2011 World Cup quarter-finals included just three players of colour, said Meyer had failed in terms of transformation.

'It may well be that Meyer is pushing Saru's agenda of not wanting to transform,' De Villiers wrote in his column for The Times. 'By only affording Rudy Paige three minutes of game time against Argentina and omitting Siya Kolisi from the match 23, Meyer took hope away from our children who want to become Springboks. Paige and Kolisi – the future of South African rugby – didn't exclude themselves.

'South Africa didn't utilise their whole squad to the best of their ability in the pool stage give the opposition, and missed an opportunity to blood the youngsters during the bronze-medal match,' he added.

'In every war there are casualties and Meyer has done the aforementioned players a disservice. It's time Meyer and the suits were honest with the South African public because if nobody steps in to heal the land, there will be an eruption of epic proportions.'

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