The archbishop, who is an avid fan and prays hard for the team before big matches, was visibly upset when shown photographs of the players that were taken at the training camp where they were commanded to strip and subjected, at gun point, to what he views as physical torture.
"This," he said, "is not in keeping with our transforming national psyche which places huge value on human dignity. It concerns me that this barbarous approach may be justified. I have no doubt the team will be leaned on to justify the whole affair and may well do this. If this happens it will be a travesty. You don't motivate people with jackboot tactics and the proof is certainly in the World Cup pudding. I am not surprised our boys in green did so badly in Australia.
More importantly, what happens at World Cup level filters down all the way down to our schools rugby. This is not the standard we want to set for our children.
The archbishop, who marches annually to protest against abuse of women and children, is also concerned that the training method for the national sports heroes sends out a message that physical abuse is acceptable."
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