Lame legacy for spineless De Villiers
12 Oct 2011
RYAN VREDE writes that Peter de Villiers styled himself as the puppet master for the Springboks but ended his reign as no more than a puppet.
De Villiers wanted his legacy to be about evolving the Springboks tactically and implementing meaningful transformation. He failed on both counts and will be remembered for his lack of backbone in resisting the agenda of his senior players, poor selections, technical ineptitude and embarrassing media offerings.
The Springboks crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage on Sunday, equalling their worst-ever performance at the global showpiece. Defeat to Australia was neither surprising nor disgraceful, but it is a fitting exit point a coach as ill-equipped as De Villiers was.
I overheard him speaking to a group of people in the Springboks’ team hotel last week. ‘I’ve been building towards this for four years,’ he said. ‘After this I don’t want to see a rugby ball.’
He shouldn’t have seen one at Test level in the first place. De Villiers was selected ahead of a far superior candidate, Heyneke Meyer. South African Rugby union president Oregan Hoskins said the decision was motivated by the need to have a black coach. Four years later Hoskins and his provincial presidents are still in power, while De Villiers will struggle to find a job with an elite franchise and will never coach a major Test nation again.
From the outset of his tenure he positioned himself as the antithesis to former coach, Jake White. He expressed strong views on a range of subjects relating to the Springboks, most notably stressing that they would play a more expansive brand of rugby and committing to improve what he said was a slow rate of transformation under White. The former ideal was shelved after one abysmal season, the senior players, most notably Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez, engineered a shift to more pragmatic approach.
Meanwhile De Villiers window-dressed beautifully with regards to the introduction of black players, without implementing any meaningful change. The core of his preferred side was the one that won the World Cup for White. Beast Mtawarira is Zimbabwean born, Odwa Ndungane was Test impostor and Chiliboy Ralepelle still knows more about the composition of tackle bags than he does about the rigours of Test rugby.
De Villiers’ record – Played 48 Won 30 Lost 18 (62.5%) – is poor, especially since he has had the finest generation of players in some time at his disposal. Examine his record against Australia and New Zealand, the benchmark against which the Springboks should measure themselves, and his mediocrity is starkly illuminated. Four wins from 12 against the Wallabies and five from 11 against the All Blacks is utterly unacceptable.
De Villiers enjoyed great success in 2009, beating the British & Irish Lions and later capturing the Tri-Nations title. However, by that stage the puppets had realised the puppet master’s lack of aptitude in handling them. They cut the strings and reattached them to his appendages.
Those players then duly decided for themselves they had a World Cup left in them. A more astute coach would have recognised they reached the very peak of their powers – particularly in the case of John Smit, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha. He claimed experience would be crucial at the World Cup. Experience, however, counts for very little when you lack the physical ability to execute the lessons experience has taught.
The Lions series also saw the nadir in De Villiers’ flirtations with insanity during press conferences. In the post-match gathering after the second Test he vehemently denied Schalk Burger has eye-gouged Luke Fitzgerald, despite video evidence showing he had. This incensed the travelling media contingent, who asked him about the incident once more on the following Monday, offering him a shot at redemption. De Villiers delivered a series of embarrassing rebuttals, none more so than: ‘If we wanted to eye gouge Lions, we would go to the bush, find some and do it there.’
Never must a political agenda, any agenda for that matter, take precedence over rugby credentials when selecting a Springbok coach. Those who drove De Villiers’ cause are the same men who desperately sought the assistance of Rassie Erasmus ahead of the World Cup to compensate for what their chosen one lacked in technical and tactical skill. They need to be accountable, Hoskins more than any.
However, De Villiers cannot be mitigated. He must be measured by the standards he has set. His repertoire of one-liners is impressive, his favourite being: ‘Even the bad days are good.’ On the contrary, the bad days have been very bad, none more so than in Wellington on Sunday.
By Ryan Vrede, in Auckland
Follow Ryan’s World Cup coverage on Twitter
483 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 » Show All
12 Oct 2011, 13:12 pm
good points hendrik… sure everyone’s entitled to their opinion… but to present your opinion as fact is not proving anything factual… and in attempting to highlight favourites abilities or promote their favourites position… too many posters also seem to feel a need to trash any other candidate and any other views by degenerating into personal insults and trash talk…
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-230:
quite right…
as pissant pointed out the other day…
what had any of pdivvy’s predecessors achieved before they were appointed…? markgraaf, carel, viljoen, streuli, white…? none of them had records worth writing home about…
so why must AC have to have some extra qualifications to be taken seriously…?
those saying he’s riding on rassie’s ability must remember rassie hasn’t been with the team for three months… in which time AC has not only kept a very young and injury depleted team very competitive, even rolling over some of the bigger teams… but has damn near got them into the semi’s…
and that all while having to bring in more and more younger player to fill the gaps… which they did… and almost seamlessly…
that’s gotta say something about his ability…
is he the best… i’m not saying that… but he’s not the worst…
IF we looked at an foreign coach i’d go for John Kirwan… sure he may not have won anything with japan but they played really good running rugby… with better players in sa i think he could do wonders for us… plus he’s a great guy and used to working in tricky social environments…
but that’s just my opinion…
12 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-248:
Whats ur opininon on players like killian, tatue, van der heever then??
and please just tell me one thing, tell me u are not a fan of basson??
12 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-250:
Geez. After the first two I was really thinking you were onto something…
But BJ Botha… firstly, was injured. Plus as an overseas player he didn’t add enough value to be picked over Jannie.
Patrick Lambie hasn’t got the boot to be playing at 10, not at the World Cup 2011 anyway.
And Fourie du Preez was crucial. Sarel Pretorius, the worst defender in Super rugby ahead of him? Think again.
12 Oct 2011, 13:16 pm
@seabiscuit(seabiscuit)-245: lol
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-249: Hi HG, actually thought i was going to be lambasted by every one , have read a quite lot of people think the same, there is hope for humanity sighhhhhhhh
12 Oct 2011, 13:16 pm
@seabiscuit(seabiscuit)-243:
I’d like to see Mitchell do well at Super 15 level with Lions before I will give him my 100% backing.
Super 15 is the level where okes have to prove themselves for me. Guys who get into the Bok squad based on Currie Cup form are often guys that don’t even shine at Super 14 level , names like Andries Strauss , Kabamba and Jaco Pretorius spring to mind.
Think of Naka Drotske , compare the oke’s Currie Cup stats to his Super 15 stats as coach , im sure the differences are massive.
12 Oct 2011, 13:16 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-250:
bro spies should never wear a bok jersey again, do agree with ur opinion on bj botha though
12 Oct 2011, 13:18 pm
@seabiscuit(seabiscuit)-252:
Basson is k@k. Not many players as good in the air as he is, but his defense is a complete joke, and he hasn’t got the strength, the mongrel, to be playing test rugby. He’s like the next John Daniels… scores lots of tries, but just is not a Springbok.
Killian isn’t a dangerous enough player. Look I know he’s done alright so far in this CC, but the past few years I’ve seen absolutely nothing from him. He’s not got the pace to play winger against the best… and he’s not about to be playing fullback ahead of some others.
I really rate Taute. I’m still backing Lambie to stay at fullback, but if they decide his future is at flyhalf, I think Taute is our best option at fullback – with Frans playing 12.
And van den Heever makes too many mistakes, misses too many tackles etc. Same category as Basson. It’s a shame because he’s big and fast.
12 Oct 2011, 13:21 pm
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-248:
Mvovo still needs to work on aspect of his game granted but he is probably the best ball carrying wing we have in the country-has the size,speed,balance,feet,power that no other winger in SA has. NZ has selected likes of Hosea Gear who fall into same category-his skillset is also not where it needs(cant kick,avg under high ball,erratic defender etc to be but one cant question his attacking value with ball in hand and he is working on the other aspects. Mate you can teach ALL the other skills,and with time they will come to Mvovo(Gear) but you cant teach what they have intrinsically. He was deservedly a Bok,after CC last year,his try vs England was a peach out the top draw on only his 2nd start.
Ruan has 50+ tests,i will forever quote that stat because for one with 6-7 years exposure to Test rugby,he is decidedly poor,period.
Lionel Mapoe has the complete skills set for a winger,his physicality and power his main attributes. Good to see him getting back to something like 2009 CC form-a bit injury prone though. But his speed is avg/ok.He may turn out to be an excellent 13,before injury he was along with Sadie playing brilliant rugby in 13 position.But I like him,doesnt stand back for anyone and KNOWS he is good.
12 Oct 2011, 13:23 pm
There are only two South African candidates able to take the poisoned chalice of Bok Coach going forward:
1. Heineke Meyer
2. Nick Mallet
However, whoever the coach is will be up shitcreek without a paddle if SARU remains the same and continues incompetently as in the past.
Bok rugby has succeeded in fits and starts for too long DESPITE the naked, blatant ballsup that is SARU. It is time SA Rugby gets an organisation that is at least moderately competent and minimally dysfunctional.
It has been a mess for too long.
These fools are going to rush headlong into another farkup soon.
12 Oct 2011, 13:24 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-250:
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-253:
i agree about lambie at flyhalf… he’s an intelligent guy who makes mostly the correct decision, has an educated tactical boot to keep us going forward… has an eye for a gap… but perhaps not the quickest guy around… and can kick at goal…
only shortcoming IMO is his kicking distance…
which is why i’d have aplon at 15… who’s first inclination is to run and he could best exploit the space from number fifteen also being one of the quickest guys around who doesn’t lose speed when changing direction like most guys do… also his big left boot will be better than lambie’s from fullback…. and lambie was also caught out of position (i think it was) 3 times against aus…
i’d stick with frans at 12… no matter what people said before the WC… the issue is now beyond doubt that he is and must stay a 12…
and i’d have hougaard at 9… no question he is peerless at the moment…
a team with these four guys in these positions… will get us going forward more often that not…
again… just my opinion…
12 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-257:
like ur opinions , taute is def for the future, but i personally rate killian, he has a good step and pacce, also has a good boot and havnt seen him miss tackles, agree with van der heever, he has really let us down in recent times , but ill admit he does look alright at 15, but anyways, hope basson never see’s a bok jersey again, what pisses me off bout him is that he got 2 tries last weekend but they were gifts and ppl go on bout how good he is, arrrrgggg anyways he cant help it too i guess
12 Oct 2011, 13:30 pm
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-254: There is no point slating Pieter De Villiers, John Smit well after the fact.
Setting up stall beforehand and predicting failure, just so for the selfish, egotistical “I told you so’s” afterward is not that hard to do.
But, it definitely is
Stupid.
and
Cowardly.
I am just proud of they all of them played the game and the way they have handled the fallout afterwards:
Bravery and Honour.
12 Oct 2011, 13:30 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-258:
Fair call on Mvovo. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh… I just see us playing a more well rounded game with players who have a balanced skill-set. I’d love to see Sadie & JP Pietersen as our two wingers… and haven’t given up on Habana yet who I think is class.
12 Oct 2011, 13:30 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-262: not they all of them – its the way all of them
12 Oct 2011, 13:46 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-259: Problem with Mallett though is whether he can bring any ideas to the party. Plus his parting with SARU was not great, which is typically a bad thing …
12 Oct 2011, 13:47 pm
This is the backline I would like to see in a years time:
15 Lambie
14 JPP
13 Sadie/Hollenbach
12 Steyn/JdJ
11 Hougaard/Mvovo
10 Jantjies/Ebersohn/Goosen
9 Hoffman/Vermaak/McLeod
12 Oct 2011, 13:48 pm
A few things – fear of loss in anything one does is counter productive and will ultimately bring you down. To me his darkest moment was when he stuck the knife into his assistants when questioned about poor performances. He took no responsibility at all and that is unforgivable. Not only did he lay blame on the assistants but he went out and tried to recruit replacements without having the decency to tell them.
12 Oct 2011, 13:48 pm
I’m more interested in what expertise a coach can involve. I think we had a big lack of experts the last 4 years …
12 Oct 2011, 13:51 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-266: looks good enough for me, not lots of experience though, but would be happy if they have the right attitude and enough talent
Do you know if Frans Steyn going back to Racing Metro? It would be great if he could play here again, make that 12 position his own …
12 Oct 2011, 13:54 pm
@Stormtrooper(Stormtrooper)-267: That’s down to experience and skill I think. Unfortunately for him, even with the best intentions, he was given a job that he did not have the experience to do
So SARU essentially paid for him to get on the job experience …
Best thing for PDivvy is now to go and find a team to coach and build up his way, use this “journey” and get some more experience
12 Oct 2011, 13:54 pm
@BULLET(BULLET)-173: hi Bullet
for me ….Mitchell….Mallet or B Venter….in that order….as Head coach
12 Oct 2011, 13:55 pm
@danuk(danuk)-265: He will not be given the job, thats for sure.
But,
He is available
He doesn’t suffer fools (automatic disqualification)
He has a bit more grey matter than the average SA Coach (also automatic disqualification)
He has had success coaching the Boks
He is an ex-Springbok himself
No player will have an ego bigger than his
He has told SARU to go and whistle (Nope, no chance will he even get a sniff)
12 Oct 2011, 13:56 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-266: My backline would tear yours to shreds.
15 Taute
14 Aplon
13 Sadie
12 De Jongh
11 Mvovo
10 Lambie
9 Hougaard
12 Oct 2011, 13:59 pm
@grant10(grant10)-271: I’d love Brendan Venter to be, think he might tell SARU to fark off though
SARU needs to put a structure in place around whichever coach though. All depends on their actuall agenda as well
12 Oct 2011, 14:00 pm
Jaque Fourie is still the best centre in South Africa. Sadie will have to wait… especially as he’s not nearly as good a defender.
By the end of next year
9 Hougaard – Pienaar other option to help Hougaard learn to play scrumhalf.
10 Goosen – Start with Morne. Goosen the future though.
11 Sadie
12 Steyn
13 Fourie
14 Pietersen
15 Lambie
That is our best centre combination.
12 Oct 2011, 14:01 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-272: yeah I like Mallet as well, just not sure how much he had to add except player management though. But maybe that’s what we need now
Interesting that 3 out of the 4 semi finalist coaches are Kiwis
12 Oct 2011, 14:05 pm
@danuk(danuk)-269: Steyn, JPP, Hougaard and even Lambie have experience.
Not sure about Frans but he will be welcome back at the Tank, if they could afford him.
But for him and his rugby I am going to commit heresy and say I actually reckon that playing for the Lions could be the best thing for him and SA Rugby if he does come back…
Unless the Sharks go and raid the Vrystaat pantry again and nab either the Ebersohn twins or Goosen…. Either of them or Jantjies could play Bok flyhalf.
And Steyn should play 12 regularly with the next Bok flyhalf on his inside.
Lambie, who is undoubtedly a good ten, could be a GREAT Fullback. Same as Hougaard being a good nine, but could be a GREAT 11 Wing.
If Plum doesn’t do it by choice then someone needs to hold a gun to his head and force him to play Lambie at 15 from now on.
12 Oct 2011, 14:06 pm
Backline options. best 3 in each position
9 Ruan Pienaar / Francois Hougaard / Dewaldt Duvenage
10 Morne Steyn / Johan Goosen / at a far push Peter Grant
11 Bryan Habana / (Johann Sadie) / Lwazi Mvovo / JJ Engelbrecht
12 Francois Steyn / Jean de Villiers / Francois Venter
13 Jaque Fourie / Juan de Jongh / (Johann Sadie) / Robert Ebersohn
14 JP Pietersen / Gio Aplon / Lionel Mapoe
15 Patrick Lambie / Jaco Taute / Riaan Viljoen
12 Oct 2011, 14:08 pm
Before you appoint any coach, appoint a DOR that can ensure unions and Super Rugby franchises supports whichever coach is appointed to lead the national team.
Without that not even superman will be able to change anything.
12 Oct 2011, 14:09 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-273: Its almost the same…
But Taute (sorry, I know you have some Bro Love there) isn’t even in the same stratosphere as Lambie at 15
And Mvovo as opposed to Hougaard at 11… come now
12 Oct 2011, 14:09 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-273: @hendrikp(hendrikp)-275:
9.Hougaard
10.Lambie
11.Mvovo
12.F.Steyn
13.De Jongh
14.JPP
15.Aplon
12 Oct 2011, 14:09 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-277:
Amen. Lambie has excelled at fullback, but everyone wants a talented player who has played a bit of flyhalf to specialize in the position.
I see him as having the Springbok fullback position locked down for a few years, but not being able to match Goosen as a flyhalf.
12 Oct 2011, 14:10 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-279:
Sorry, unions, Super Rugby teams, AND age group national and development (including A-teams, Sevens and Emerging Boks) to work towards a common cause of national interest.
And yes, it is in our national interest to win Super Rugby too so it must be managed both ways.
12 Oct 2011, 14:11 pm
@Brads(Brads)-149:
2003 comes to mind!
12 Oct 2011, 14:11 pm
heyneke Meyer my 4 th choice…kak scared he will skop en jag us again!
12 Oct 2011, 14:13 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-279: A DOR isn’t going to sort out the mess that is SARU… That just shifts an intractable headache from coach to DOR
SARU also needs to be made to compensate Provinces adequately for players unable to play for them due to being selected for the Boks and on training camps.
But it wont happen.
12 Oct 2011, 14:15 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-279: amen
12 Oct 2011, 14:16 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-281:
We’re going to have to differ on Aplon. He’d make one hell of a winger if they played him there… but I don’t think his size (or sturdiness) allows him to be the all-round fullback I want for the Boks. For me it’d be tight between him and Taute actually if Lambie went down, but Lambie owns that jersey.
Also like de Jongh, but he needs to out play Jaque Fourie… and he’s not getting the game time at the Stormers to do that.
Don’t believe Sadie will live up to his reputation I’m guessing?
12 Oct 2011, 14:17 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-266:
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-275:
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-281:
mshini’s line is best… IMO
12 Oct 2011, 14:17 pm
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-282: Agree about Lambie… Jouba-esque.
Havent seen much of Goosen since the laaitie World Champs, where he was outplayed by the English runt George Ford, but he has undoubted talent.
However there are some other very talented Flyhalves that need to be thrown in the deep end.
12 Oct 2011, 14:18 pm
@grant10(grant10)-285:
If the Bok’s had ‘skop and jagged’ or ‘skopped’ for territorial touch they actually might have won the test!
Instead they continue to keep ball in hand with the Aussies defence impenetrable with 251 tackles @ 81% success rate… and all this whilst they were pilfering 30% of Aussie LO ball!
Nope they chose to keep the ball-in-hand and play attacking rugby… just like you wanted… and the result followed.
12 Oct 2011, 14:23 pm
@ufo(ufo)-289: Mine is best. It does not exclude other players and certainly does not play them out of position. IMO
12 Oct 2011, 14:23 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-286:
Not if done correctly, DOR manages coaches (at all those levels) and makes the executive decisions (which will include re-structuring within in SA Rugby wrt to contracts, contract negotiations and compensation).
Central contracting is not a new concept, and I don’t think we should adopt it verbatim either, but we can work of the principle of this.
12 Oct 2011, 14:24 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-280: No bro love, just an uncanny knack for spotting rare talent. I was a lone voice for Willem Alberts for about 3 years – since he was just a year out of school – and I suffered terrible taunting for it. And these days you can’t throw a dwarf without hitting a gaggle of Alberts fans. I’ve been saying the same thing about Taute for about a year now. And again people don’t recognize a true prophet in his time. Shall we come back to this conversation?
12 Oct 2011, 14:26 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-294:
You had an echo…
12 Oct 2011, 14:27 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-290:
To be fair I thought Goosen was superb in all the games I saw him play. The 3 stand-outs were definitely Johan Goosen, Francois Venter & Arno Botha, with a few others not far behind.
Biggest disappointment was the front-row, and while we had 3 excellent loose-forwards in Carr, Kolisi & Botha, they were very similar in their approach and we didn’t really have a player doing the work on the ground effectively. Kleinhans didn’t cut it.
Ruan Venter was injured early, which robbed us of our genuine enforcer and had Jean Cook playing lock, who struggled a little bit.
Also really needed a centre at that World Cup.
I see Paul Jordaan is playing a lot of 10. Sharks might be looking at him there for the future.
12 Oct 2011, 14:27 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-281: I also think Lambie has a future at flyhalf. He makes good decisions and is not afraid. He also has good running, kicking and passing games. Just needs time to settle there.
12 Oct 2011, 14:28 pm
My backline is better than your backline?
is this keo aftercare?
12 Oct 2011, 14:29 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-295: Ah, I remember.
12 Oct 2011, 14:29 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-298: Show us yours, tough guy.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.