PdV quits as Boks crash out
9 Oct 2011
Peter de Villiers has quit after coaching the Springboks to a World Cup quarter-final defeat in Wellington.
De Villiers’ contract has expired and after a four year tenure marked by controversy and criticism, he will opt not to put forward his name as a candidate for the now vacant post.
‘Its been a brilliant journey and one that none of you [the media] can take away from me,’ he said. ‘There’s a time to come and a time to go. The journey is over.
‘I enjoyed it. I was in a privileged position to be able to contribute to my country. South African rugby is in a good state and will move forward after this.’
Asked how he wanted to be remembered, De Villiers said: ‘As the best me I could be.’
De Villiers ends his career with a 63% success rate, winning 30 of his 48 Tests. However, measured against the best in the world he has struggled. With the defeat in Wellington this evening his record against Australia dipped to four wins from 12, while he has won just five from 11 against the All Blacks.
De Villiers enjoyed the bulk of his success in 2009, winning a series against the British & Irish Lions, as well as the Tri-Nations. However, outside of that the Springboks have struggled, this with arguably the finest generation of players in decades at his disposal.
His loyalty to captain John Smit, despite the rise of the incomparable Bismarck du Plessis, has elicited severe criticism. He sought out Smit in 2008 while the Test veteran was contracted to French outfit Clermont, offering him the captaincy, then persisting with him despite Smit touching the ceiling of his potential in 2009.
Smit was liberal in his praise of De Villiers. ‘We’ve had a good four years. He isn’t a coach in the usual mould but one we’ve thoroughly enjoyed,’ Smit said. ‘He has given us leeway and space and tightened the reigns when he needed to. He is a great man and coach.’
De Villiers was appointed ahead of superior candidates, most notably Heyneke Meyer, in 2008, South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins citing ‘reasons other than rugby credentials’ as the reason for the decision.
There isn’t a clear favourite for the post. Meyer has signed a long-term deal with the Bulls as their director of rugby and has indicated repeatedly to this website that he isn’t considering applying for the job. The Stormers duo of Rassie Erasmus and Allistair Coetzee are expected to toss their names into the hat, while others like Lions coach John Mitchell and former Saracens head Brendan Venter have been mentioned as possible candidates.
By Ryan Vrede, in Wellington.
695 Comments
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9 Oct 2011, 10:01 am
Now we can all exhale Dragons
9 Oct 2011, 10:02 am
so who do we think should be the new coach and captain?
Im saying heyneke meyer and andries bekker? Thoughts?
9 Oct 2011, 10:03 am
YEAAYYYY. This actually kind of offsets our loss against AUS lol (well not really actually…i’m devastated). Springbok rugby needs a real coach ’cause we’ve got some awesome players, and with a guy like Eddie Jones we (could have) could dominate world rugby.
9 Oct 2011, 10:03 am
You, Smit and the rest can now go and chew the fat. Just please all of you keep away from the Bok jersey, thanks.
9 Oct 2011, 10:03 am
And the world breathes a collective sigh of relief
9 Oct 2011, 10:06 am
This can only be a good thing for SA rugby.
9 Oct 2011, 10:06 am
I actually kind of feel sorry for PDV. He was totally out of his depth and he didn’t have the guts and character to impose his views (not that that would have been a good thing). He just let “John” lead the team. We need a real coach now (one who has at least already coached at super15 level…………not a quota) with some real rugby knowledge.
9 Oct 2011, 10:06 am
Captain will probably be Schalk, coach no idea really
Try Argentina!
9 Oct 2011, 10:06 am
@mcaj(mcaj)-2: Bekker? WTF are you smoking son?
Coach should be Meyer, won’t be, look to Coetzee from WP, after all we need a dark person in charge now, at least someone who knows the shape of a rugby ball.
You want to groom a proper Captain for the future, go on, make Pat Lambie Cappie but you will get chilliboy
9 Oct 2011, 10:07 am
The end of his journey… And the end of our suffering. May God give us the coach our talented young players deserve !
9 Oct 2011, 10:07 am
@Pirlet BEL(Pirlet BEL)-7: Feel fokkal for him, he got paid a lot to be a clown and ruin SA rugby.
9 Oct 2011, 10:07 am
OR, HOW ABOUT NICK MALLETT. He’s a bloody good coach. I’d take him any day.
9 Oct 2011, 10:08 am
Phone Nick Mallett…
and beg!!
9 Oct 2011, 10:08 am
@Pirlet BEL(Pirlet BEL)-12:
Snap
9 Oct 2011, 10:08 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-11: I don’t really feel sorry for him
he’s a clown and he did nothing for springbok rugby…
9 Oct 2011, 10:10 am
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Coach: Meyer
Captain: The “Incredible” Schalk
PDV to be honest only lost the plot in the last 2 years, but it’s definitely time for a change. If only, Julius was as sensible
9 Oct 2011, 10:11 am
Realistically, we wont get another white coach. Just as with pdivvy, saru will want to show their intent with transformation. So hopefully it’ll be allister coetzee. And the captain will probably be chilliboy.. He was always part of the springbok team to become our next captain.. Unfortunately for bismark, he might remain an impact player..
9 Oct 2011, 10:11 am
@TheBandit(TheBandit)-16: PDV never had a plot.
9 Oct 2011, 10:13 am
Hallelujah….
9 Oct 2011, 10:14 am
Enter Alistair Coetzee…
9 Oct 2011, 10:15 am
very surprised you were not asked to stay on.
9 Oct 2011, 10:15 am
So there is a god.
9 Oct 2011, 10:15 am
i must say i like the thought of eddie jones as coach but i dont the SA rugby would allow a non SA coach…
9 Oct 2011, 10:16 am
This clown has stuffed up a seriously good SA team, we need someone like Heyneke to rebuild SA rugby. This will not happen over night…..
9 Oct 2011, 10:17 am
Good riddence to Krusty, he nailed JW during RWC 2007, he said the right things in 2008 when he took over as the head coach … then he together with Plod destroyed the world champions that Jake built.
He is as kak a coach as Strooli.
9 Oct 2011, 10:17 am
F-u-c-k you de Villiers, take the lapdogs and that selfish pig with you.
9 Oct 2011, 10:19 am
am I am so tired of everyone saying “with the Boks you know what you are going to get.”
Direct
Physical
Inflexible
Incapable of adapting
Brawn over brain
Scrambling defence
Guts
We need to change this. Add more arrows to the quiver, more like.
I can’t see any of Erasmus, Coetsee and Meyer being capable to provide the necessary arrows.
Brendan Venter perhaps? Too out of the box for most [conservative] South Africans, perhaps?
Otherwise I’m all for an overseas coach with a winning record. We need fresh ideas.
9 Oct 2011, 10:21 am
Nothing became him in his career like the leaving of it.
9 Oct 2011, 10:21 am
@Kayoss although i wouldnt mind coetzee, i think meyer is better suited to traditional SA Rugby i.e. big bruising forwards who will intimidate the opposition.
9 Oct 2011, 10:21 am
@mcaj(mcaj)
Not a bad call those two. Like heyneke but not sure if they’ll go for him, think SB will get the nod for cappie. But after the dissapointment at least we got something to look forward to.
Do you think they’ll maybe go for a foreign coach?
9 Oct 2011, 10:22 am
Not Mallett, don’t think he’s got the skill set for the modern game … Probably Coetzee, bigger question will be who he will choose to be part of his team … Schalk as captain …
9 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-26: dude, go grab a valium
9 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
Time for either Meyer, Mallet or John Mitchell. Coetzee…….jeez what has he done in CT? Please not another political appointment.
9 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
Chaucer!
9 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
I cannot recall in Bok history when we last had a period of 4 years with such a good crop of players. Its a crying shame we didn’t have the coach to support these guys.
Looking forward to the next chapter. Long live the Bok. The Bok will always be there for us
9 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
@mcaj(mcaj)-29: that’s the last thing we need.
Smart always beats Big.
Today was proof of that.
9 Oct 2011, 10:25 am
Hmmm, this news comes 4years to late.
Try to always look for positives when things like this are announced,
Err, YES!!!
Good riddance. You should never have had the job.
Let’s choose the best coach now, not the best one available for “not only” rugby reasons.
Would love Nick again, but somehow think AC is gonna get the nod, which would be bad.
Meyer would also be a good call.
Even Brendan Venter with Alan Solomons
9 Oct 2011, 10:25 am
@XV(XV)-33: too white, outdated ideas and too foreign …
9 Oct 2011, 10:25 am
june/july/august 2009 will always belong to pdivy. And that off the back of a Bulls dominant superrugby showing.
every thing else was pish.
Inherited as talented a group of players and ready built team as any coach could hope for…..and turned it into a lesser team in my opinion.
9 Oct 2011, 10:26 am
@mcaj(mcaj)-23: Australia did, and they’re in the semis. Wales did, and they’re in the semis too.
Connect the dots.
What did John Mitchell’s team do to Allister Coetzee’s team?
Connect more dots.
Get the picture?
9 Oct 2011, 10:26 am
But Skop and the other crazies will harp on how we beat NZ in NZ etc. Now to move forward! Do we have quality coaches in SA? I don’t think so!
9 Oct 2011, 10:26 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-36: well, partially agree, we need big and smart …
9 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
Don’t quite get Coetsee, sorry.
Reds and Crusaders whumped the Stormers in CT this year. Stormers couldn’t score many tries either.
Yes, he coached the Stormers to two consecutive playoffs but it was never quite enough in the end and that isn’t enough for the Bokke.
We need a winner in charge with fresh, out of the box ideas..
9 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
@goyougoodthing2-18
No plot yes, but he had a plod.
9 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
mallet or mitchell
9 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-34: Shakespeare.
9 Oct 2011, 10:28 am
“With the defeat in Wellington this evening his record against Australia dipped to four wins from 12, while he has won just five from 11 against the All Blacks.”
IMHO, 5 wins, 6 losses vs the ABs is not bad at all. There aren’t too many coaches who can boast better record.
He struggled vs Aussies though.
9 Oct 2011, 10:28 am
Halleluja! I hope Smit follows suit. SA rugby paid a huge price for a senseless, politically-correct decision.
9 Oct 2011, 10:28 am
Eddie Jones is the man, but he’s non South African. Nick Mallet next, hope he’s not too white. Heynecke Meyer, I doubt he’d want to leave the Bulls & leave his new project of reviving the B’alls. That leaves Allister Coetzee. Surprise package could be Rassie.
9 Oct 2011, 10:29 am
4 years ago when PDV took over everybody was scared stiff he would destroy the team that Jake built. He didn’t. He did what we all wanted and what turned out to be the right decision because I dont believe there are very many players sitting at home that would have turned out a better performance than the guys did in Wellington today.
We came unstuck because we lack creativity going forward. And that is a traditional weakness of South African sides that has been there consistently since we returned from isolation. The difference now is that defensive patterns and indiviudal tackling skills have improved beyond recognition from 20 (or even 10) years ago.
Scoring tries is becoming difficult for any side but its going to be even more difficult for sides that run at defenders for 15 phases instead of at gaps. With the amount of posession we had today we really should have been able to deliver a ko blow.
Seems noone wants to blame the ref either but it is very strange how during the super 15 the first question on the mind of every ref at every ruck was “Has the tackled player been released and allowed to place the ball”, while come this world cup its like that rule doesn’t exist. It certainly wasnt a thought on Bryce Lawrences mind today but to be fair it seems like none of the refs have given it much focus throughout the tournament.
One last thing… with all the time we spent in their 22, why not a couple more drop goals????
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