Disgraceful De Villiers
29 Jun 2009
In a surreal press conference, Peter de Villiers continued to deny Schalk Burger was guilty of eye gouging and delivered some of his most sensational rubbish ever.
De Villiers on Monday held court with a room full of journalists, the majority of those from the foreign press, and proceeded to spit the most ridiculous nonsense, and display an incredibly pompous and dismissive attitude, particularly towards the foreign contingent. For those present it was obvious that he has a very low opinion of them.
The questioning predictably centred around Burger’s eight-week ban for eye gouging Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald, an issue that the Springbok media team tried to dodge by saying that they would only comment after they had received an official report on the incident. You didn’t need an official report to know that Burger is unbelievably lucky not to receive a longer ban.
On Saturday De Villiers left the press incredulous by saying that Burger didn’t deserve a yellow card for the incident, let alone a citing. On Monday the coach had an opportunity to retract that ludicrous statement and concede that he was wrong. Yet he remained resolute in his flawed view.
‘I stand by Schalk, I’m still convinced he didn’t do it,’ he told keo.co.za. ‘When you watch the footage closely and if you know the nature of Schalk, you’ll know that he will never go to those measures to impose himself. Schalk certainly didn’t do anything on purpose. He watched the TV footage and was taken aback himself.
‘I am against anything that is against the spirit of the game. If we want to eye gouge lions, we’ll go down to the bushveld and eye gouge them there, then see if they can haul us in.’
When one of the travelling pressmen continued the line of questioning, De Villiers snapped, ‘Some of us seem to have a hearing problem. We’re waiting for the official report and we’ll see what that says. If they find him guilty of something we’ll abide by that decision.
‘I’m not ducking the issue, I’m working within a system. I’m not like you [the media] who don’t work within a system.’
De Villiers said he doesn’t condone foul play [the likes of which Burger was clearly guilty of], yet continued to inadvertently justify the incident.
‘Rugby is a contact sport and so is dancing,’ he said. ‘If you guys [the media] were clued up you’d know that there were so many incidents that we could have complained about, like the incident where a Lions player maliciously jumped into one of ours with their shoulder.
‘But we didn’t do it because this is a contact sport. If you are going to complain about every incident we might as well go to a ballet shop and all get tutus.’
Despite the series victory, there is a widely held view that the Springboks beat the Lions despite of their coach and not because of him. De Villiers’ rebuttal, ‘Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don’t react to opinion, I react to fact,’ he said.
‘If I’m the weakest link then we are bloody strong. I’m a God-given talent. I am the best I can be. I know what I am and I don’t give a damn.’
He continued by saying he didn’t read the papers, and therefore didn’t know how he was perceived in the media.
‘I don’t care. I don’t take an interest in your job, but I’m glad you take an interest in mine.’
Any preceding Springbok coach would have been seriously taken to task by the administration, but De Villiers gives one the impression, through his attitude and unbridled hogwash that he delivered on Monday, that he believes he is a law unto himself.
The reality is that he was an embarrassment to South African rugby, as he was when he offered his racially loaded views relating to Ricky Januarie, for which he will have to answer to the president’s council.
The same president’s council who appointed him based on his skin colour and not his rugby credentials (they confirmed this themselves when announcing his appointment), are now pointing the finger at him when they should be held partly accountable for the perception he is creating of himself, and by association, the Springboks, and South Africans in general.
De Villiers considers himself to be an ambassador for South Africa. He has said so on numerous occasions. But he is doing anything but creating a favourable impression of this country.
He needs to be reined in immediately. Word from inside the Springbok camp is that he just refuses to listen to any advice offered by his media managers, and as a result he is destroying any credibility he might have left.
Today he was a disgrace and he’s single-handedly detracted from the wonderful achievement of winning a Lions series. Hopefully it’s the last time we’ll have to endure a senseless rant like this from De Villiers. Don’t hold your breath though.
By Ryan Vrede, Johannesburg
859 Comments
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30 Jun 2009, 06:21 am
‘I am against anything that is against the spirit of the game. If we want to eye gouge lions, we’ll go down to the bushveld and eye gouge them there, then see if they can haul us in.’
Honestly. This might be the funniest thing I have ever read, well the funniest thing on Keo. The funniest thing I have ever read is A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Which somehow all brings us back to Peter De Villiers.
30 Jun 2009, 06:45 am
Marc Hinton, of the Wellington “Dominion Post” views PDV as follows…
Good old Peter de Villiers strikes again. Now here’s a man who makes Mathieu Bastareaud seem positively sane, the Springboks coach outdoing even his own high standards of foot-in-mouth syndrome with his latest outburst.
We really shouldn’t be surprised by anything we hear from PDV these days. But still we are.
A controversial appointment when he succeeded the hugely successful Jake White, the pint-sized coach has made an art-form out of his bizzare press conference soliloquies. It’s not clear what colour the sky is in the world the Boks coach inhabits, but it appears to be a different shade to our own.
De Villiers struck again in the aftermath of the Boks’ series-clinching victory over the British and Irish Lions in Pretoria at the weekend – a meritorious 28-25 win that was marred by the yellow card and subsequent eight-week suspension handed down to flanker Schalk Burger.
The coach’s comments made in the wake of the Burger ban – that will remove him from the equation for the All Blacks’ two matches in South Africa – almost defy belief. They also caused his own national union to issue a hasty clarifying statement that could only be viewed as attempted damage control.
Just how long SA Rugby can continue to let this man run amok with his views remains to be seen, but in the meantime we in the media, and you in the public arena, should at least enjoy it. For no one quite tells it like de Villiers.
Here’s a selection of the pearlers he offered on the Burger “gouging”, his flanker’s subsequent suspension and the British media’s indignation at the tone of his comments:
- “Do we really respect the game? If not, why don’t we all go to the nearest ballet shop and get some nice tutus, get a great dancing show going on, no eye-gouging, no tackling, no nothing and then we will all enjoy it.
- “In this game there will be collisions and the guy who wins the collision, who goes in hardest, that’s the guy we will select. I’ve looked at the TV footage, I’m still convinced there was nothing [Burger] did on purpose. He’s an honourable man.”
- “I’m honoured to be part of this lovely game and I’m part of the system. I don’t appoint disciplinary officers, I don’t always agree with them, but if you don’t want to be part of this system, create your own world.”
- “We should be congratulated for winning our first series against the Lions in 29 years. The country can rejoice and be positive. They and their supporters should take it on the chin … nobody from the Lions has said well done to us yet: perhaps they will after the third test.”
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- “Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk won the Nobel Peace prize: whatever else they did in their lives, no one could take that away from them.”
- “If I am the weakest link, then we are bloody strong. I’m a God-given talent, I’m the best thing I can be, so what you [the media] think doesn’t bother me. I know what I am and don’t care a damn.”
- “We have brilliant players in this country. We do not prepare them to do things you would see in the bush veld. If you want to eye-gouge a Lion, that is where you go.”
- “I know Schalk Burger very well. He is a very physical rugby player and he likes to show who is the boss on a rugby field. I do not think he did it.”
- “Rugby is a contact sport – so is dancing. If you are clued up on this game, you will have seen … there were so many incidents and he could have carded one of them for maliciously charging into a guy. We could have brought that to the attention of the citing commissioner but we did not because this game is a game to us and sometimes you get away with things.”
And, finally, on comments in the local media that he was the weak link in the Boks chain and a “dimwit” and “bungler”, de Villiers reached for his best stuff:
- “I am not disappointed in our media. Everyone in life has an opinion. I react to fact, not opinion. If I am the weakest link, then we are bloody strong.
- “I have a God-given talent… I do not give a damn what the media think. People say we were lucky to win last Saturday. I describe luck as someone trying to hit you and missing. A game lasts 80 minutes and if you are ahead on the scoreboard at the end, it is down to character more than luck.
- “I do not know how I am perceived and I do not care. When you close your eyes at night and know you have been honest with yourself and those around you, that is all you can ask for. I thank you for being interested in my job but I am not interested in yours.”
You’ll forgive me for letting PDV go on a bit, but some of this stuff is so good it deserves recording.
It also confirms the suspicion that the biggest obstacle in the way of South Africa adding the Tri-Nations trophy to their Lions scalp and the World Cup crown that sits safely in their keeping is indeed their own coach.
Surely, the theory doing the rounds that the Boks continue to win in spite of their man in charge, not because of him, must have some grounds. His bizarre subbing in the second half of the first test, and now this…
It also makes you thankful that we have a dry old soul like Henry to lock swords with on this side of the world. He may be a little selective in his rationale, and occasionally talk down to the media, but by comparison he’s decidedly rational.
Of course the one thing to bear in mind about this whole Burger affair is that once again it’s being jumped all over by the UK and Irish media in the wake of yet another series defeat by their Lions – completing a clean-sweep by the Tri-Nations over the so-called best of British.
Much as they did with Tana Umaga in 2005, the travelling media are obsessing on one incident in a match and rather disguising the bigger point which was that their Lions weren’t good enough once again.
On that score, de Villiers most definitely has the last word.
30 Jun 2009, 06:59 am
Well done PdV!! He is not going to take any **** from these high and mighty journos, and they dont like it a bit! So watch this space for all the attacks on him. I say again; well done PdV dont crawl to these gutless bunch!!
30 Jun 2009, 07:25 am
Well, PDV has just APOLOGISED and forced to eat a big bowl of humble pie in public for his stupid comments. Not only has he been forced to take this ****, but he’s also had to eat it with all the world watching and smirking. Serves the clot right.
30 Jun 2009, 07:29 am
#803 TheTackler: Aaagh, take a look at what he apoligised for! Nice to have a unique character in our rugby, makes for a good change from all those politically correct puppets that represents SARU!
30 Jun 2009, 07:39 am
He made a 180 degree recant of his previous position and made a belly-crawling apology.
High time, too.
30 Jun 2009, 07:48 am
#805 TheTackler: i+ +w+i+s+h you will f off you are so negative+++++++++,++++ y+++++o+u+ wo+u+l+d +b+e+ +a m++e+al+ ++++++++i+n+ +f+r++++o++++++++n+t+ o+++++++f+ t+h+e+ press+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++, +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++t+h+e+y+ ++++++++w+il+l+ +t+e+ar+ +y+++++o+u+ +++++++++++ap+p+ar+t++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
30 Jun 2009, 08:20 am
“..also confirms the suspicion that the biggest obstacle in the way of South Africa adding the Tri-Nations trophy to their Lions scalp and the World Cup crown that sits safely in their keeping is indeed their own coach.
Surely, the theory doing the rounds that the Boks continue to win in spite of their man in charge, not because of him,..”
This is also a wonder to me. This proves just how talented some of our Bok players are.
As much as it irritates me to hear it being said again and again, the truth is that the entire Bulls team could beat any side on this planet right now. The proof is in the pudding and they proved it on Saturday.
30 Jun 2009, 08:23 am
#805 TheTackler:
in the words of peter the great (changed a bit of course to fit the situation!!)
….
“i dont give a damn! i dont take an interest in your team. i’m glad you take an interest in mine!!”
now, f*ck off back to where you crawled out from!!
30 Jun 2009, 08:46 am
Oh come off it guys
Most South Africans, if they were to stop for a moment and give it some thought, will understand the following statement, and the overseas contingent might find some appreciation for who and what the guy really is from it.
Snor hails from a town called Paarl (pearl) and is part of what is widely known as the Cape coloured community. Far from being a derogatory or racist label in any way, this grouping of ethnic people lie very close to my heart as they are blessed with a truly beautiful- yes it is, sense of humour and have over the years built up a collection of colloquial expressions and a body of wit which I as a caucasian South African regard as a national treasure. Over and above this they have developed a distinct “tongue” and pronunciation, almost their own afrikaans dialect, in which they express themselves so colourfully that I can listen for hours to everyday run-of-the-mill conversations between them. Coupled to this there is an innocence and in some ways a naivety which is often belied by their sharp wit.
Now, when PdV expresses himself in the media, he speaks off the cuff in english, but is actually translating his thoughts, that are deeply rooted in his cultural heritage- full of the same wit, sarcasm and emotive images and figures of speech as he goes, which, while sounding perfectly normal to him, end up being extremely amusing to outsiders.
So next time, please listen and enjoy the pearls of wisdom flowing from the man, rather than being so quick to criticize.
And to PdV and SArugby- maybe the time has come for him to consider a communications expert or at the least some training to better prepare him for his media sessions.
30 Jun 2009, 08:53 am
#809 bluruggaguru:
So I guess the truth is we have a unique coach- someone who can think on his feet and isn’t bound by the constraints which other coaches are tethered by. He is his own man so let’s leave him be.
30 Jun 2009, 08:54 am
#90 katman: Excellend base line .. Debaser also a top tune with a massive phat line.
30 Jun 2009, 09:08 am
The Lions are trying to Tana Umaga, Schalk Burger. They did the same to him after the spear. Bok power..
30 Jun 2009, 09:54 am
What a miserable, cow-towing bunch the South African media are.
Where is the headline that says, “Disgraceful Sheridan plunders Bekker’s family jewels”?
Or the one that says, “Pathetically disgraceful BOD throws multiple punches, lands none”?
Or how about “Disgraceful citing commissioner fails to spot Lions’ punches”?
Or maybe “Disgraceful disciplinarians ban Bakkies for cleaning out too hard”?
Grovelling, craven, cowering, fawning, ingratiating little slaves. That’s the South African media.
The Lions tried their illegal “99″ tactics and got donnered by a more physical team, and now they’re crying. Why does the SA media expect us to cry for them?
30 Jun 2009, 10:07 am
#813 pierre: Lions #8 dives in on Habanna after try was scored
Lions #8 pushed JPP in a similar way that Percy was pushed in the WC.
30 Jun 2009, 10:11 am
Time to leave this blog and read SARU’s rescue mission,which
of cause makes a lot of comments on this blog in defense
of PDV look silly.
30 Jun 2009, 10:22 am
I’m with you Pierre. How can we side with snivelling weasels like tickles?
Staan jou man PdV and SARU should too.
PdV might have other issues but at least he backs his players. C’mon tickles – there were no grovelling apologies from the NZ rugby hierarchy after Umaga and Thorne took out BoD and Smit respectively. And sent them to hospital nogal. Burgers’ so-called “gouging” victim was pretty much unhurt. A dab to wipe away the tears and he finished the game – no lurid photo’s.
I call bullsh1t.
30 Jun 2009, 10:24 am
This was really embarrasing for me…really. I am a citizen of the country and a supporter of that team…why don’t they just push a roll of R100 notes up his pie hole to shut him up and tell him to just coach and shut the hell up.
30 Jun 2009, 10:40 am
#817 Ned: Trouble is, he can’t coach and nor can he shut up!
30 Jun 2009, 10:52 am
#818 Inevitable: aaaagh come on did you enjoy the 3 Bok tries?
30 Jun 2009, 10:59 am
#333 BlackPanther: Yeah mate, BLOGGERS are still mentioning it – me included – not the Boks. Read my post. we have the Lions moaning and complaining after the tests to journalists etc.
The Captain, Smit, bringing it up at the post-match conference – it was probably raised by a journalist – does not constitute continuously moaning about it, its the correct forum to raise it in.
30 Jun 2009, 11:01 am
#801 TheTackler: Marc Hinton is a boring, one-eyed, bigoted d00s. His column in SA Rugby is the 1 page I dont read – in fact I tear it out and burn it on the braai.
So no surprise that you luuuurve him tackler
30 Jun 2009, 11:29 am
A message to all you Springbok fans…
This is worthy of sacking. Demand he go, that is bullshit what he said. Its rucking that should be retuned to the game, then no barstid would lie there, thats how it use to be.
Eyes are the biggest no go area. Id rather have my balls rucked, My ear bitten and a Sione Lauaki Coathanger at my than an eye gouge.
Shame on Richard Loe 26 Weeks
Shame on S. Burger 8 Weeks
Shame on Peter DeVilliers Lost Job!
30 Jun 2009, 11:30 am
You support your players by being an exemplary host, a credit to your country and at all times speak the truth.
30 Jun 2009, 11:38 am
#813 pierre:
I agree….. I often read some of the UK websites and the way they are slamming us is totally unjustified…. apart from that incident in the 1st minute of course.
Grown men, international rugby players calling us bullies?
TheLions threw way more cheap shots than the boks.
Even in the 1st test there was an intent to try and push bakkies and bismarck over the edge…..
I have a clip of O driscoll swinging at bismarck…
and many more….
30 Jun 2009, 11:41 am
***
30 Jun 2009, 11:44 am
#822 NZMaori:
I am sure many agree with you….. unfortunately i dont see it happening.
Apart from everything else I just do not see these sort of comments and events keeping the team close….
the players are going to start (if they have not already) losing respect for the coach. Luckily John smit is a fantastic leader and is probably capable of keeping the team united.
30 Jun 2009, 11:49 am
MK should be banned from keo for that. Are you writing that from Free State Prison bro? In there for grevous bodily harm are you?
This has got way outa hand. Of course there should be niggle, with fists and boots you crazy barstid, not eye gouging
MK you are letting down your country, go on, get all rasist with me now, that will be your next blow
30 Jun 2009, 11:51 am
#819 superBul: Very much! And,respect for the players too. If they can cap things by taking the T3 they will go down as possibly the best Bok team ever.
If they can go on to win the WC they get to keep it permanently in the cabinet (1st team to win 3 WC’s). Bragging rights for ever!
SA have the players to do the job but something tells me they are not going to manage it with this coach. The sooner he goes the better for you.
Keep up the good rugby posts Super.
30 Jun 2009, 11:52 am
heheheheehehe, the lions lost the series boooo fkn hooooo!
I dont think there is 1 saffa (excluding PdV) that condones what SB did, the citing was out of our hands and so was the punishment handed down…. deal with it
Now for the Lions media to come out and focus on one (embarrasing) incedent is childish beyond belief…. but just as PdV statements, is it surprising???
30 Jun 2009, 11:53 am
ryan ,i see you have written 2305 articles.i guess 99% of those articles are plain and pure ****.i wonder how many you actually thought through before putting pen to paper?
30 Jun 2009, 12:08 pm
#827 NZMaori: listen here you kiwi cnunt and listen good,i did not say that i condondoned eye gouging but i am just getting seriously pissed off that the media and especially european media can run around branding south african rugby as inherently violent without looking at their own thuggish behaviour.in one english newspaper of yesterday mike philips actually said that they ,the lions,are the good guys which is a f$king joke in my eyes.
30 Jun 2009, 12:11 pm
PdV our very own George W Bush!
30 Jun 2009, 12:15 pm
#825 mk:
you are a nasty little boy…..
30 Jun 2009, 12:15 pm
I always thought Chester should of got the job. PDV has charge of possibly the best Bok squad of the professional era.
And he must be taking the piss.
Cmon.
What in the world does he mean…. He’s on a mission from God. Thats clear..
To defend the indefensible…. to show support to his team man despite all evidence to the contrary does mean his team should play for him.
30 Jun 2009, 12:16 pm
#825 mk: Well done. You qualify to teach english in the Western Cape.
By the way, does your nic have any association with the rag tag bunch of rabble that got owned by the Recces’s?
30 Jun 2009, 12:19 pm
Recce’s
30 Jun 2009, 12:20 pm
#835 Inevitable:
Bwahahahaha!!
I nearly choked on my first beer here behind the pub counter (I am bartending at the moment)…don’t do that man,please, beer is expensive over here!
30 Jun 2009, 12:30 pm
It is good to see that the SARU have told P divvy and his team to resile from their previous position that their eye-gouging and other thuggery was grist to the Bokke mill and morally acceptable:
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_5406738,00.html
Not that the Bokke management and team have been made to apologise for espousing their view that their thuggery should remain part and parcel of their game it only remains for the head-banging Dutchm@n on here to state that eye-gouging and other underhand thuggery has to place in rugby.
Will they now take this opportunity to do so?
30 Jun 2009, 12:39 pm
#824 NZMaori:
I totally agree – save that there should be no rucking of someone’s head. Everything else – withing reason and locality of the ball – should be fair game.
30 Jun 2009, 12:40 pm
#838 Sir_Charles_Napier:
why do you c are so much? you go on and on and on ….have you no life … what he did was wrong, he knows it and has been punished for it, if you knew the guy you would know he would never do it deliberately.. get over yourself…
30 Jun 2009, 13:15 pm
#842 gunther:
Don’t you see that this has tarnished rugby in General and Bokke rugby in particular?
Corne Krige Bokke tactics and his apologists should never have made a comeback.
It is apparent to anyone with eyes that saw the incident that Burger intended to Gouge Fitzy. There is simply no doubt whatsoever, yet you, and you are not the worst on here, think he did not, and others on here, as well as P Divvy and his team (I have taken him at his word), think eye-gouging and other thuggery are perfectly acceptable in rugby. The vast majority think there is no place in rugby for the thuggery displayed and condoned on Saturday. A majority of people think it is.
Don’t you get that people who care about rugby know that this is an argument for its soul?
30 Jun 2009, 13:19 pm
“A majority of people on here think it is”
30 Jun 2009, 13:22 pm
#841 Chucky: Just hope that the holy Lions behave themselves on Sat otherwise a lot of people will sit with egg on their face.
30 Jun 2009, 13:32 pm
When the team wins, it’s thanks to the player. When the team loses, it’s because of the coach. Why this logic was not applied to Jacque White and all who came before him?
I will say it loud and clear:” YOU ARE A BUNCH OF RACIST WHO THINK THAT A COLOURED CANNOT DO ANYTHING GOOD AS A COACH”.
We still have a long way to go in this country…
30 Jun 2009, 13:35 pm
#845 Beertjie:
See my comments at [ ] above about this being a fight for rugby soul. The reason it is because if Bokke thuggery continues it will spread to other teams because other teams will have no option but to fight fire with fire.
I would not be surprised if the Lions decide to do that this Saturday. They certainly took the view that if someone punched them they would punch back.
Will they eye-gouge and testicular bite back too? I should think that it is only a matter of time before someone does back to the Bokkes what they have done to other people. I know if someone eye gouged me I would rip them a new one.
They have re-opened a Pandora’s box of thuggery which could lead to the game regressing a decade or more in terms of levels of foul play. Was winning the Lions series really worth doing this to rugby and suffering the consequences of the fallout?
30 Jun 2009, 13:48 pm
#846 The objective man:
In fairness mate, and I say this as a liberal Irish man, PDV is not helping himself at the moment.
Many in the western press, were supportive of PDV’s appointment in spite of the political nature of it and have desperately wanted it to work but PDV isolated them all, at one fell stroke when he said amongst other things, eye-gouging and all other Bokke thuggery was perfectly acceptable. He told them further that they should wear a tutu and take up ballet dancing if they didn’t like it.
What is undeniably true, is that if he was the coach of any of the home Unions he would have been sacked on the spot for those remarks alone.
Perhaps you can tell me why he is not been sacked when anyone in the northern hemisphere would have been sacked for those off the wall comments.
30 Jun 2009, 13:50 pm
#841 Sir_Charles_Napier:
a very obvious place to deliberately do it right in front of the touch judge and ref ….. watching the replay does not confirm any kind of intent…. the point is though … he broke the law and he has been punished to continue to harp on is nonsensical… also there was plenty of thuggery from the lions…to suggest otherwise is delusional…
30 Jun 2009, 13:56 pm
#845 Sir_Charles_Napier: and your guy (think it was Sheridan) that hit Bekker in the nuts? Oh I am sorry, it is not thuggery if it is done by a BI Lion?
30 Jun 2009, 14:02 pm
#846 Sir_Charles_Napier: This is SA where competence is the last thing that gets you employed.
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