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, 15:16 pm
@Transformation:
You must remember that with characters like ______ any statement becomes an accusation.
Even an arbitrary statement like “the sky is blue” will be transformed into some kind of paranoid allegation.
I think its a case of chronic claustrophobia – the mountain and the sea. Some constantly feel trapped.
7 Dec 2009, 15:18 pm
@Transformation:
Then I misunderstood you.
WPTID I apologise.
7 Dec 2009, 15:19 pm
@Klaas:
Ja ek het nogal.
7 Dec 2009, 15:21 pm
@Klaas:
False people I can still tolerate.
But false teeth!! Hell, no!
7 Dec 2009, 15:24 pm
I cannot wait to see who I will link up with when Im in CT!
7 Dec 2009, 15:24 pm
@rangerman: you are absolutely right.keo is addictive and you can’t stay away, just ask pietman.fair play to simon for staying around and answering some questions.
7 Dec 2009, 15:26 pm
@Simon:
Simon,
I asked before, I am asking now
1. Where and when was this interview conducted?
2. What language did PdV use in interview?
3. The English used is well above PdV’s language – and most of the current Boks in the squad for that matter – how come the guy suddenly is a master of the lingo? his afrikaans to start with is poor, according to those who know it’s a gutter dialect used in the Cape Plains
7 Dec 2009, 15:29 pm
@Valkyrie: Fair enough. We certainly know him better after his participation.
7 Dec 2009, 15:30 pm
@Valkyrie:
Ryno Benjamin was involved with some trafficking charge 2 years ago, PdV is more at a bottle store affairs (” talk are cheap, Money buys the whisky”)
7 Dec 2009, 15:33 pm
@Hondo:
Simon is an editor.
He would have filled in the missing words for thr purposes of writing an article of a certain length.
The words used that can potentially be misinterpreted he used verbatim.
The key is to look for his intention.
7 Dec 2009, 15:34 pm
@Hondo:
“according to those who know it’s a gutter dialect used in the Cape Plains”
WHHAAAAATTTTT?????????????????????
How dare you speak thus about Afrikaans.
You twit.
7 Dec 2009, 15:35 pm
Gutter dialect used in the Cape Plains ….. indeed.
7 Dec 2009, 15:36 pm
Does anyone have the winning percentages between PdV and Jake White so the stats can actually tell us who the better coach is? The Lions tour and 3N have not convinced the majority it seems…
7 Dec 2009, 15:36 pm
@Hondo:
Yes.
We all traffic, we all hang out at bottle stores.
You white supremacist. (Lekker phrase)!
7 Dec 2009, 15:39 pm
Tackler is a puppeteer.
As we speak he is busy pulling the wires there in the background.
7 Dec 2009, 15:40 pm
@Hondo:
Come on, you fool.
I’m waiting.
Me and all the Afrikaans-speaking big guys who drive big bakkies … we are waiting ….
7 Dec 2009, 15:41 pm
A gatsby a day keeps the doctor away.
7 Dec 2009, 15:44 pm
IMO this is one of the most negative interviews I have seen. Never done it before but I actually feel sorry for PDV. The guy has never been given a fair chance and has been written off since the start. When the team loses he is KAK, when the team wins, it is ’cause of senior players.
Well done PDV on a great year. You have one of the hardest jobs in the world and are doing a fine job.
7 Dec 2009, 15:44 pm
Good day!
Can I please have 2 chip rolls pls?
7 Dec 2009, 15:44 pm
@Dawn: Yep…and even the english speaking guys with big Bakkies
7 Dec 2009, 15:45 pm
@Dawn:
supremacist = supermarket pharmacist
7 Dec 2009, 15:45 pm
Do they serve gatsby at the Avontuur restaurant between Stellenbosch and Somerset West?
7 Dec 2009, 15:47 pm
Apparently Saaimin and Raai-aan hulle kry vis en chips vouchers om by die Avontuur restaurant te eet.
7 Dec 2009, 15:47 pm
Dawn
DJY!!!
7 Dec 2009, 15:49 pm
@charo: I’ll bet that’s where Joost,Ricky and Earl score it…!!
7 Dec 2009, 15:54 pm
Eish this blog has gone out of control.
Looks Simon faced the heat and good on him for showing face but this interview was really in poor taste and Simon has got the public sentiment horribly wrong.
Simon what some of the public wish to think who is pulling the strings is not necessary what the majority is thinking.
Tact in the questioning should have been used.
If my Boss was asking these same questions I would have said thanks for the job but no thanks mate.
Just very poor Simon I think you had the opportunity to side with your coach and angle your questions that way just maybe he would have expanded on your meeting.
If somehow this thinking is emanating from the bok camp as coach I would find out where it is coming from and kick the ******** out regardless if they are senior players.
There seems much arrogance from the senior players coming from the bok camp.
I dont hear that Habana is a senior player and that he is pulling strings…why not. But we hear Matfield and Smit…get rid of these as they are dispensable.
I hear **** Muir….lets see if it was him who should be lauded for the Bok success….with all his experience controlling the boks what did he do against Leceister?
Look at the Brumbies they thought they were too good they got rid of their coach…blunder….they have received a spanking ever since.
7 Dec 2009, 15:54 pm
if some on this site are to be believed, there are truly very few “world class coaches” ie those who like jake white built a team from shambles and took it to a world cup triumph!
Pdv= k@k, Graham Henry = k@k, Declan Kidney = k@k (BoD, o’Connell & O’Gara are coaching that Six Nations winning team) Deans…hhmm still k@k, hasn’t won zilch yet, let alone a world cup, Warren Gatland = k@k…etc…
That leaves me with only Jake White & Clive Woodard…hhmm?
7 Dec 2009, 15:59 pm
PDV has his moments but one thing is for sure he has done well with this side.
He should be given credit who cares what he says in the media….maybe thats his weakness…but he sure reserves his strength for Boks winning ways.
I like to banter about PDV its because he has done well.
Good on him!!
7 Dec 2009, 15:59 pm
Pretty hard hitting and PdV didn’t exactly hold back. I do think that some of his comments in the lions series was a bit daft, but the line of questioning from the journo’s seem pretty disrespectful.
I doubt this kind of questioning would have seen the light of day against Nick Mallet / Jake White.
No matter how you want to swing it, The Springboks have been really good under PdV. I was skeptical to start of with, but 3-0 against the All Blacks this year? Come on, that’s not lucky.
7 Dec 2009, 16:04 pm
@Hondo:
“The English used is well above PdV’s language – and most of the current Boks in the squad for that matter – how come the guy suddenly is a master of the lingo? his afrikaans to start with is poor, according to those who know it’s a gutter dialect used in the Cape Plains”
Given the number of grammatical errors that you managed to squeeze into the above-quoted passage, I find your complaint about PdV’s command of the English language somewhat amusing.
En terwyl ek nou hier is … die bewering dat PdV ‘n “gutter dialect” praat vertel my aansienlik meer van jou mentaliteit as van sy dialek.
7 Dec 2009, 16:13 pm
@Transformation: It’s crazy I tell you. Just crazy.
7 Dec 2009, 16:19 pm
@Thucydides:
That’s what I said.
Then the idiot vanished into the ether.
7 Dec 2009, 16:22 pm
@Transformation:
I can’t believe I got your story wrong … now WPTID will REALLY never speak to me again.
7 Dec 2009, 16:24 pm
@Dawn:
Yes, I will.
7 Dec 2009, 16:25 pm
@Dawn:
Even if I am “spineless”
7 Dec 2009, 16:25 pm
@WP Till I Die:
Sweet!
7 Dec 2009, 16:27 pm
@WP Till I Die:
Jammer man.
They lied to me.
7 Dec 2009, 16:30 pm
Now wheresat Simon.
I want to interview him.
7 Dec 2009, 16:33 pm
Dawn: “Your critics say that you have no real rugby knowledge, and that you have bullshitted your way into a job at HSM, and that you get all your information from Die SON. What do you say to that?”
Simon : “You said it, not me.”
7 Dec 2009, 16:35 pm
@Dawn:
7 Dec 2009, 16:35 pm
@Dawn: he will talk to you, he sounds like a pretty solid guy. He won’t be phased by your little irrational behaviour…you’re dawn for crying out loud…
7 Dec 2009, 16:40 pm
Dawn: “So does Mark Keohane run the show, as some have suggested?”
Simon : “Let me make this clear. I am the boss. I am the CEO of HSM.”
7 Dec 2009, 16:41 pm
@Dawn: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DIE SON! I recon that Simon and esspecially Ryan would fit in perfectly over there.
7 Dec 2009, 16:46 pm
Dawn : “What was your lowest point of that somewhat difficult 2008 season?”
Simon : “When the delivery boy forgot to bring me Die SON two weeks ago. I cried like a baby, I tell you.
7 Dec 2009, 16:48 pm
@Transformation:
Listen boet.
You can call me anything you like, but don’t call me irrational.
I know what you said, and I have been nagging you for proof for two weeks.
You wanna see me moer you, call me irrational.
7 Dec 2009, 16:54 pm
I’ve just logged in then I stumbled upon this article.
The standard of journalism has really gone down the toilet drain.
Simon you my dear friend are the official patron saint of assh0les. Well done.
All the journos on this site do more to fuel the divisions on this blog than anyone else.
I think you should actually stop writing rugby articles and go back to eating crayons, soiling yourselves or doing whatever people of your mental capabilities get up to.
Oh and when you’re finished down there remember to zip JW’S trousers and to wipe your mouths and yes you can swallow.
F#ck I’m really pissed off now…really. Have they got no respect for PDV.
What the fu#k did he do to them to deserve being treated like this?
Go and reflect on this: “If we uncritically swallow every criticism of people. We participate in a mob attack that undermines the individuals and their efforts and gives comfort to our enemies that demeans and cheapens us all. We need to think more carefully before we accept every confirmation of our own darker preconceptions.” ( I can’t remember the author of this quote.)
7 Dec 2009, 17:44 pm
@Dawn: relax dawn…
7 Dec 2009, 17:56 pm
@Xhosaskid: and you are still a fcuken idiot
7 Dec 2009, 18:02 pm
@XhosaKid: no one took the bait mate.
by now, everyone has spotted his little ruse.
7 Dec 2009, 18:11 pm
What a waste of time . Really pathetic questions
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