PdV: ‘I am the boss’
7 Dec 2009
SA Rugby magazine’s hard-hitting interview with the Springbok coach.
Your critics say that your technical knowledge of the game is poor, and that all the technical stuff surrounding the Boks’ game plan comes from your assistant coaches and the senior players. What’s your response to that?
I went to Wales to do my level-two coaching course, and paid my own way. The way it works is that you do the course and then go coach for another two years before you return to do the level-three course. I had just come back to South Africa when the Welsh Rugby Union called me and said they were so impressed by my technical knowledge of the game that they wanted me to do the next course straight away. I chose to do those courses in Wales, because I’ve always admired the great players they had in the ’70s, like Gareth Edwards and JPR Williams. I knew I would be working with equally talented players back in South Africa.
So you do make technical contributions in the Bok set-up?
Of course. When I said the All Blacks were scrumming illegally in last year’s Tri-Nations, I had video footage to back it up. No one else in the Bok squad had spotted it. The same thing happened when I questioned the Wallabies’ scrumming methods this year. I was the only person who saw what they were doing. I also make technical observations about other areas of the game, like lineouts and attack.
Do the senior Boks run the show as some have suggested?
Let me make one thing clear – I am the boss, I am the CEO of South African rugby.
In John Smit’s autobiography he explains how the coaches and the senior players meet the day after a Test to plot the way forward for the week ahead. Why did you decide to have such a democratic process?
A good CEO doesn’t make every decision on his own, he consults with other senior people in the company and gets their input. Why would I not want to listen to my assistant coaches and senior players like John and Victor [Matfield]? They all have something to offer. But the final decision on how we play rests with me.
There’s a rumour going around that Dick Muir made those controversial substitutions against the Lions in the first Test in Durban. True or false?
Let me explain. My voice isn’t suited to the radio we use [to communicate with the staff on the sideline] as I talk too quickly and my voice goes high and then low. Why would I want to talk when I can make use of Dick’s strong voice?
But does the message to make the substitutions come from you?
Yes.
So why did you make all those changes when the Boks were 19 points ahead and in complete control?
You know, if I could have done it over again, I would have made them earlier, because I could see the guys were getting tired and went into a defensive mode. By the time I brought the fresh legs on we couldn’t get out of that defensive mode.
Smit believes the Boks would have won by 25 points if those changes had not been made.
No, I don’t agree with him.
Do you regret the way you handled the Schalk Burger ‘eye-gouging’ episode after the second Lions Test in Pretoria?
No, I don’t.
Why didn’t you just tell the British and Irish journalists at the post-match press conference that you couldn’t comment until you had watched the video? In the end, Smit had to step in and say that.
Why should I have had to do that? The South African journalists in the room should have asked me what it was like to have beaten the Lions in a series. But you sat back and let them ask me those questions [about Burger]. You wanted to see me fail.
But you could have stopped their line of questioning yourself. Why rely on the local media?
No, you should have stopped them. You were all intimidated by them. I saw the look in your faces.
So you have no regrets at all about that press conference and the following one on the Monday?
I regret confusing the words ‘condone’ and ‘condemn’. If I had spoken to [the foreign media] in Afrikaans, I would have won that battle easily.
Then why didn’t you?
No, why man? I just got one word wrong.
Were you given a dressing down at that meeting with SA Rugby after the Lions series?
No, it was just a meeting to discuss the progress of the team. We had a similar meeting at the end of last year.
But you seemed to choose your words far more carefully at press conferences after that meeting. You were a changed man during the Tri-Nations.
I didn’t change. You [the media] changed because we were winning. I will never change. That’s why I say ‘I am who I am and I don’t give a damn’.
Why do you think the South African rugby media want you to fail?
Because your man didn’t get the job.
Who? Heyneke Meyer?
You said it, not me.
Do you think some of the media are racist?
You said it, not me.
Do they irritate you during press conferences?
I know that most of them have played rugby before, but I can tell by their questions that they haven’t played at a very high level. If it hadn’t been for apartheid, I would have played for the Boks.
Let’s go back to the beginning of your stint as Bok coach on the day you got the job. How did you feel when [Saru president] Regan Hoskins said your appointment was ‘not for purely rugby reasons’?
I don’t let the bad things in life affect me.
But how did you feel when you heard those words?
I felt nothing. Regan is entitled to his opinion and it didn’t bother me at all. I know I’m a good coach and that I deserve to be where I am today.
The Boks finished last in the 2008 Tri-Nations after starting the tournament as favourites. Why did you choose to abandon a structured approach for a more expansive one?
What laws were we playing under? We had to adapt our game because of the ELVs. I never said that I didn’t like structure, I said we would play total rugby. When I got the job as coach I said I wanted to take the Boks to the next level.
So you don’t regret adopting the game plan used last year?
No.
Then why the return to a more structured game plan in this year’s Tri-Nations if total rugby was the way to go?
The message came from me that we should kick more this year. Then because we had kicked so much [in the three home Tri-Nations Tests], we were able to surprise the Wallabies in Perth with a running game that resulted in four tries.
What was your lowest point of that somewhat difficult 2008 season?
The sex-tape story, which wasn’t true. I had to watch my 82-year-old mother cry.
Before you were appointed as Bok coach, there was talk that you’d pick 10 black players in the starting line-up if you got the job, yet you finished the Tri-Nations with only two black wings and a black Zimbabwean prop who wasn’t eligible when Jake White was coach. Have you failed in terms of transformation?
If a racist white guy voted for the National Party, but then changed his views after 1994, that is transformation. The Springbok team has been transformed because the colour of a player’s skin doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not going to pick black players to make up the numbers, because I will do them more harm than good.
But there were still only three players in the Bok starting XV. Isn’t that a concern?
Look, I think Adi Jacobs is the No 1 centre in the country, but he got injured and by the time he was fit Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie were doing well together so I couldn’t drop either of them. Ricky Januarie is an excellent scrumhalf, but I can’t drop Fourie du Preez. And Conrad Jantjes broke his leg earlier this season. We could have had six players of colour in the starting XV in different circumstances.
But you only had three which is why you were slammed by that transformation committee.
What have they done for the good of this country? What contribution have they made?
You’ve said that the Super 14 coaches are to blame for the lack of black players coming through. Do you stand by that?
Yes, they don’t think black players can make it at that level.
Would the situation be different if three of our five Super 14 coaches were black?
You said it, not me.
Do black players and coaches have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition and plaudits as their white counterparts?
Of course! I’ve had to work 10 times harder than any other white coach to get to where I am today. Why wasn’t I ever offered a coaching job at Super Rugby level?
Is there something wrong with the system when someone like Frans Ludeke, who failed dismally with the Cats/Lions, gets the Bulls job?
You said it, not me.
You have a high profile as Bok coach and earn a big salary. Has that changed you as a person?
I haven’t changed. I still live in the same house in the same area [in Paarl]. It will be hard for me to leave because I want the people in my area to be proud of the fact that they are living near the Bok coach. I still drive the same car that I had before I got the Bok job. It just needs to get me from A to B.
Do people you know expect more from you? Do they ever come and ask you for money to help them buy a car or pay off a loan?
No, do I look like a charity?
By Simon Borchardt
– This article first appeared in the November issue of SA Rugby magazine
494 Comments
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7 Dec 2009, 13:39 pm
@Simon:
Your questions aren’t “difficult”
They are blatantly stupid.
Did you ask him that last question, or did Ryan throw it in as a joke?
7 Dec 2009, 13:40 pm
This article is really shameful
@Simon:
How many players have played Sevens and became Springboks nevermind playing Super10/12/14?
That is a bullsh@t statement that they should be called Springboks. Did they not represent their country??
7 Dec 2009, 13:41 pm
@PhilippaB: That was in reference to the other day, when his lover posted. You need to read every thread.
7 Dec 2009, 13:42 pm
wtf … PDV is the biggest racist since Eugene … now you cry rape for a few simple questions? …
7 Dec 2009, 13:42 pm
@PhilippaB:
I never said that.
I deny everything!
7 Dec 2009, 13:42 pm
@Simon:
when are we gonna grow up and do things our way because it is our way… If New Zealand want to devalue their Sevens players, that’s their problem…
think you’ll find most supporters are for the Bok Sevens being recognised Boks…
They certainly haven’t devalued the brand…
anything but…!
7 Dec 2009, 13:43 pm
@Dawn: Those questions were asked in order to establish whether becoming Bok coach had changed him as a person or affected his home-town life. His answers showed that he is still the same person he was before getting the job.
7 Dec 2009, 13:44 pm
@Dawn:
simply put, you used to be able to get sprngbok colours for ANY sport that you reprented south africa at.
since when is the bok now so sacred that only the 15′s can have it?
is it akin to the medal of valour or the victoria cross all of a sardine?
no, it is an emblem representing the fact that you have reached the pinnacle of your form of the game and can proudly represent your country as the best we have to offer at that FORM of the game.
this is not rocket science really.
7 Dec 2009, 13:44 pm
History will show you the Springbok emblem was adopted by just about all sporting codes, including athletics even.
It was what our athletes who competed on the national stage was known as, I do not see why the Sevens cannot do the same.
7 Dec 2009, 13:46 pm
@Xhosaskid: You know there is a blog for guys like you. RT. There you can talk about how you beat your domestic, and your fantasies of murdering black people and new uniforms for the AWB. They will welcome someone like you and you may feel more comfortable to be yourself there.
7 Dec 2009, 13:46 pm
@rossoneri: If they’re anything like this, I’d rather not.
7 Dec 2009, 13:46 pm
@Xhosaskid:
Who are you?
7 Dec 2009, 13:47 pm
Simon, I see that you’ve decided not to use your “friend” Nick Armstrong this time to spew some tripe here in order to generate hits. Good on you.
What I don’t understand is why you guys are so intent on alienating the Bok coach from you. Rugby is a source of your income. Don’t you think it would be better to have a good relationship with the premier coach in the country? This by no way means that you have to “gatkruip” or not criticize him. A decent relationship with PdV will allow you guys to bring us, the bloggers, first hand accounts of what is happening in the Bok camp, don’t you think? Then you won’t have to rely on “inside information”, “open secrets”, “reliable sources” etc to bring us stories about the Boks which in most cases prove afterwards to be false.
This interview is so biased and derogatory that it is not worth commenting on it. You should hang your head in shame.
@Graeme 1:Xhosakid: I think the two of you should get together and organise a braai where you can beat the **** out of each other. Maybe both of you will feel better afterwards.
7 Dec 2009, 13:48 pm
@Simon:
Sevens suggestions
This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008
As some of you on this site know, I have always had a love-hate relationship with Sevens. I love the fact that the game, like T20 cricket, provides fans with plenty of action in a short space of time and allows minnow rugby nations, like Kenya and Portugal, to be a lot more competitive than they are in the 15-man arena.
However, I hate the fact that the best players do not take part. In South Africa, only those who aren’t good enough to play Super 14 rugby (with the exception of the talented Robert Ebersohn) are picked for the Sevens side. And while these guys tell everyone how much they love Sevens, it’s obvious they’d rather be playing 15-man rugby. Hell, even Fabian Juries, our greatest-ever Sevens player, turned his back on the abbreviated game this season when the Cheetahs included him in their Super 14 training squad. So much for him being a Sevens specialist.
The reality of the situation is that the SA Sevens team consists of Vodacom Cup-standard players, and because of this, I think they devalue the Bok jersey. Let’s be honest, do the likes of Mzwandile Stick and Marius Schoeman really deserve to wear the green and gold? My answer is a resounding no. I think the SA Sevens side should play in a different jersey, perhaps with gold being the dominant colour, and be called the Proteas. This would give the team its own unique identity and prevent the Bok jersey from being cheapened.
Finally, I think SA Rugby should be doing everything in its power to get Sevens rugby televised on the SABC. Our Sevens team is full of black players, and black South Africans — many of whom do not have access to SuperSport — should be able to watch them throughout the year. Sevens is also a great way to introduce people to the sport, and they’d soon become fans of the 15-man version too. Hopefully, SuperSport would consider the bigger picture and share their TV rights with the national broadcaster — starting with the Sevens World Cup.
By Simon Borchardt
This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008
7 Dec 2009, 13:48 pm
@Simon: No. Those questions were posed to show what a racist cnut you are. Full stop. Pdv has achieved more than many other coach has. You can’t stand it.
7 Dec 2009, 13:49 pm
@Simon:
Simon my man
I am prepared to stop brawling with you .. IF ..
you allow me to interview you and the story is put onto this site.
7 Dec 2009, 13:50 pm
@PhilippaB: His name is Nick Armstrong. Look out for him. He’ll join us soon enough.
7 Dec 2009, 13:53 pm
Simon have you ever asked Jake White what it feels like being a ‘kept man’ on the Winelands and how he must feel at get-togethers as a poor white guy from the wrong side of the tracks and boarding school fitting in with the fast and fabulous…??
just to see how being Bok coach changed him or not…???
7 Dec 2009, 13:54 pm
@Xhosaskid: always find it funny that whites so easily calling black people racists nowadays.when black people don’t agree with white view points or challenge their racists views they are suddenly called racists.very funny indeed to be called a racist by sons,grandsons,daughters and granddaughters of cold-blooded killers.leaves me cold!
7 Dec 2009, 13:55 pm
First off – about this interview – wow. That’s all I’ll say.
As for the rest – it is just as bad to now start shouting “racist” and fighting fire with fire. Let us debate constructively without resorting to insults.
In this respect, please refer to rangerman who has indicated on this thread how to conduct yourself.
Finally, please do not confuse “Xhosaskid” with the real Xhosakid. They are completely different persons.
And don’t feed the trolls.
7 Dec 2009, 13:57 pm
@Transformation: #162
eish Simon… then they went out and won the world championships…!!
7 Dec 2009, 13:57 pm
@ufo: Or how long it took him to realize he was a drunk and how many times he cheated on his wife. Bet Simon didn’t ask Jake those questions.
7 Dec 2009, 13:57 pm
@Valkyrie: to be fair, if you are a zulu you are descended from some pretty violent people.
we all are actually.
thats just inescapable.
my folks werent even hippies but my dad did listen to pink floyd’s seminal work, the wall, when it was banned in south africa.
7 Dec 2009, 13:57 pm
Today, yet again, I am ashamed to be a South African.
Reconciliation? Clearly a myth, judging by the comments on this blog.
It is pathetic. Some of you really need to grow up.
7 Dec 2009, 13:57 pm
rossoneri … ja lekker, soos hulle ons moor, moor ons terug …. d00s
7 Dec 2009, 13:58 pm
@ufo: Simon must have really gotten angry about their success. “How can these “Vodacom” players do soooo well!” He said, tearing his hair out!
7 Dec 2009, 13:59 pm
@Simon: simon you are talking nonsense, go and google any image of dj forbes the new zealand sevens captain and tell me what the colour of his jersey is? you’re such a liar man!
7 Dec 2009, 14:00 pm
@Xhosaskid: RT my friend. You will find freedom there.
Jy kan vir hulle vertel hoe jy vir my ook wil moor, as dit vir jou lekker sal laat voel. Daardie mense weet wat jy nodig het. Moenie langer wag nie! Go and be free!
7 Dec 2009, 14:02 pm
@WP Till I Die: howzit man.
funny though, you get guys like graeme and others like golden boy.
one makes my stomach turn, the other gives me major pride and hope.
the reality is that south africa will never be a happy country until our resources are equitably distributed, hopefully by the capitalist system constrained by a dollop of socialism.
and yes you feckin capitalists, it can work if we get it right.
hell man, we can be the costa ricans of africa.
7 Dec 2009, 14:02 pm
@rossoneri: #170
of course not… it was all nudge nudge wink wink stuff…
but you see Jake White isn’t PdV or Tiger Woods… white people in high places can cheat on their spouses etc but black people have to take a beating in the press… The press will even manufacture ‘videos’ to embarrass the Springbok Coach…
7 Dec 2009, 14:03 pm
@WP Till I Die:
Since when did you start listing instructions here.
7 Dec 2009, 14:03 pm
@Transformation: The NZ Sevens team has the three white adidas stripes, which the Test team does not.
7 Dec 2009, 14:05 pm
@WP Till I Die:
For goodness sake grow some balls and start addressing your whining to specific people.
7 Dec 2009, 14:05 pm
@Simon: #142
Not one question on his achievements this year though.
Winning a Lions series.
Winning the 3Nations.
Becoming the first coach since unification to beat the AB’s 3 times in succession.
The first unbeaten EOYT in 2008.
Having a better record as international coach than Deans.
How does he feel about all of this?
I agree that the difficult questions need to be asked but really, even you ought know that a balanced interview requires you to ask about the positives and the negatives.
7 Dec 2009, 14:05 pm
@Simon: # 180
but they have the Silver Fern on their chests…
7 Dec 2009, 14:06 pm
@ufo: thats not really true man.
high profile chappies who get caught are……high profile chappies who get caught.
ask joost or japie mulder or dalton etc etc.
or steve.
7 Dec 2009, 14:07 pm
You cannot compare the Proteas Twenty20 team to the Bok Sevens side, because the best cricketers in SA are available for T20 selection. Imagine if the T20 coach wasn’t allowed to pick players from the Test and ODI teams, or from any of the six franchises for that matter.
7 Dec 2009, 14:07 pm
@Xhosaskid: ja pietman.kan nie wegbly nie ne jou doosgesig.waar is jou namakwalanner nick vet gat?bietjie ingeloer daar op rt nou die dag en toevallig lees ek dat jy aan die ander dose se dat jy op keo geblog het na n lank tyd.dit was toevallig die dag toe die karoolanner en namakwalanner nicks skielik uit die lug geval het asook die hi-jacking van nicks.
7 Dec 2009, 14:08 pm
Then to chuck in my R0.02 – why should our premier rugby union XV be exclusively called the Springboks?
The Springbok is very dear to my heart.
Firstly, I was born there.
Secondly, it makes great biltong.
Thirdly, the Springbok is still South Africa’s national animal. Surely teams at the pinnacle of their sport or field in the national sphere deserve to be equated to our national animal?
Fourthly, the Springbok emblem was the mascot of almost every single sporting discipline at one time or another.
Why must it now only refer to the rugby union team, and not the Sevens?
7 Dec 2009, 14:08 pm
@ufo: It’s pathetic and sick. Really sick.
7 Dec 2009, 14:09 pm
@nama1: De Villiers had answered those questions to death in newspapers and on websites. The point of this interview was to ask him the questions that other media outlets had not. As I said, I told him that before our interview, and he was happy for us to continue.
7 Dec 2009, 14:09 pm
@Simon: ag, are you still banging on about what nz does?
why?
why the hero worship for them?
simon, seriously buddy, you are so out of touch on this one.
@nama1: not one mention of his achievements.
pdV is clearly a better man than me.
7 Dec 2009, 14:10 pm
@WP Till I Die: Because our best players (like Bryan Habana) are not available for Sevens selection.
7 Dec 2009, 14:10 pm
Apologies Xhosakid. I was referring to Xhosaskid in my post 161.
7 Dec 2009, 14:13 pm
@Valkyrie:
Is it Pietman???
7 Dec 2009, 14:14 pm
@Simon: simon, again you embark upon a specious line of debate mate.
the t20 game WORLDWIDE has seen the emergence of cricketers with a completely specialised skill set, the “soek en moer” brigade.
these players dont play for their nations test side or the odi side, they are SPECIALISTS!
as the game is refined, expect this to occur more and more often.
for instance, morne morkel vs albie.
up your game please.
7 Dec 2009, 14:15 pm
@rangerman:
of course you’re right Ranger… but none of the Keo guy’s ever published any questions to Jake White about not only cheating on his wife while all the players and journos knew about it… (imagine how she must have felt…?) but never questioned Jake having a squeeze in every port of call… three or was it four at the same time…??? In this day and age of AIDS and 16 Days of Activism etc… What sort of example was Jake’s to the youth of the country in terms of responsible sexual relationships and about respecting women…??? And yes… Jake is a role model…
Phillipa…? Anything…???
7 Dec 2009, 14:15 pm
Yawn at all you people. Why is everyone so up in arms? As Simon said, PdV agreed to answer. Even if you feel the interview was done in bad taste, it is a good representation of what many people are thinking, it needed to be done. I’m glad you people get to vent you’re anger on this thread, hopefully you won’t kill the next person of differing race you see.
2 things I’ve learned from this thread. PdV is a man, not a mouse. There are so many racist on this blog, black and white.
7 Dec 2009, 14:15 pm
@Simon: no matter how much spin you are gonna put on this issue it’s not gonna help you because your hatred for coloured people are legendary on this blog,a blog that was started to pander to white supremacists!
7 Dec 2009, 14:16 pm
@Simon:
My offer stands.
Stand up and be interviewed by me for this website.
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