The South African Rugby Football Union have threatened to enforce the quota system in the Super 12 if coaches continue to refuse to pick black players.

Sarfu chief executive Rian Oberholzer told Die Burger that he had stressed in meetings with the coaches before the season that opportunities must be created for black players. "They all agreed and we believed that it would happen.

"But now the opposite has happened. If they want to force us to start regulating them, we will do that."

Minister of sport Ngconde Balfour had earlier said that Stormers coach Alan Solomons and Cats' Laurie Mains were not doing anything for Sarfu's transformation process.

He said if they continued to do so, they should stop coaching. But both Mains and Solomons will be leaving at the end of the season to take up positions overseas. The minister, however, praised Sharks coach Rudolf Straeuli for his efforts.

Oberholzer said Balfour's criticism had merit. "How will we know if a player is any good if he does not get the chance to play?" he asked. "There haven't been official quotas for the Super 12, but it can easily be arranged."

Bulls coach Phil Pretorius was also critised for not picking Thando Manana, while Oberholzer mentioned wing John Daniels at the Stormers who was overlooked when Pieter Rossouw returned home injured from their overseas tour.

In his column on sarugby.net earlier in the week, Springbok coach Harry Viljoen also criticised Solomons and Mains for not giving promising black players Lawrence Sephaka and Conrad Jantjes an opportunity in the Super 12.

Viljoen said it's a reality of South African rugby that black talent has to emerge and that the national team has to be representative of all cultures. "The black players need opportunity and exposure. This is not happening in the Super 12 and I find it particularly disturbing," he wrote.