Several top Springboks could leave for greener pastures after the completion of the current Super 12 competition and won't be available for next year's World Cup in Australia.

This claim is being made by well-known Australian rugby writer Greg Growden in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald and follows hot on the heels of a claim by Rob van der Valke, former right-hand man of Nick Mallett on the Springboks team management, that five top Boks are about to depart for England.

"If you think South African rugby is in a mess, then wait until next year. Ruck and Maul has been told by an authoritative Northern Hemisphere source that 18 out of the 25 Springbok players have signed, or are about to sign, with European clubs," writes Growden.

"The source, with intimate knowledge of several of the Springbok European contracts, said players would start going north after the Super 12 and would miss next year's tournament. Basically, the core of the Bok Test side will leave, the players finding the strong European currency simply irresistible when compared with the weak rand."

He also claims several Springboks have privately expressed their disenchantment at the South African quota system, which demands several black or coloured players must be picked in representative starting line-ups.

Van der Valke last week stated that Natal wing Stefan Terblanche was dropped from the Springbok team because the all-white team would not have been acceptable to South African politicians.

Former Springbok captain Andre Vos (pictured) has apparently signed a big-money contract with a top English club and will be leaving after the Super 12.

Western Province chief executive Rob Wagner last week refuted Van der Valke's claims, saying Corne Krige, Robbie Kempson and Percy Montgomery are all contracted until the end of the 2003 season, while Rossouw's contract with Western Province expires at the end of this season.