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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29 Jun 2009, 19:39 pm
#383 justrugby:
I wouldn’t put anything past that insidious little underhand self righteous, opportunist little prick, that calls himself a patriotic South African coach, nothing whatsoever. He will divide and rule as best he knows how, he learned it all from his pompous little empirical friends, the ones he was aiming for a cushy little job with since 2006 already, that dude is an underhand writhing backbiting snake, big time, no wonder his name rhymes perfectly with such a creature.
They all thought Luke Watson was the divisive element in the team all along, I can say it with conviction, no, it always starts at the top, you don’t need look too far for divisiveness when it is promulgated from the very core of its structures.
Let the senior players mouth it, let them say it loud and clear, who they would like to be coached by, 73% success rate and all, let them spill all them beans and let the coup begin, let the blood be spilled out in the open, if such be the insidious underhand sentiments from within then if I’m PdV I walk right now, not a moment longer.
29 Jun 2009, 19:40 pm
#358 rangerman: exactly some people are winging here about peoples comments towards the brits but if they had just been noble enough to stop their bitching and taken the defeat with grace as opposed to the ridiculous comments that they have made we would have left it, but because they are such soar p*ss sore losers i rek they can go get screwed
29 Jun 2009, 19:40 pm
#397 justrugby: been a few beautiful days ….afetr those bloody storms!
29 Jun 2009, 19:40 pm
i agree, let the senior players say who they want to be coached by, lets get this open secret out in the open once and for all.
29 Jun 2009, 19:41 pm
#396 carol: Cool, travel well for the rest of the trip !!! Speak soon !!Regards to all !!
29 Jun 2009, 19:42 pm
#395 Its called bickering among passionate rugby followers. Its good to see an outsiders point of view. A similar POV from frothing Kiwis is tainted with schadenfreude more often than not.
29 Jun 2009, 19:43 pm
#402 grant10: Yip, played at Atlantic Beach yesterday, windy but nice to see blue skies agaain !!
29 Jun 2009, 19:44 pm
#394 grant10: I will mail you a whole load when I get back. HUGE bonus…..
I SAW PERCY AT LOFTUS….What a treat, I was the only smiling lions supporter!! Still did not get to meet him. 6,000 miles and I did not get to shake his hand!!
What an awsome time you gave us…will mail.
Loftus was brilliant though….To see the Boks play there was a privelege!!
29 Jun 2009, 19:44 pm
#395 BlackPanther:
i’m not sure our american friend got it spot on, but his viewpoint seems quite fine.
29 Jun 2009, 19:44 pm
#403 cab: yes…..all this conspiracy **** must be brought into the light….if a few senior players are opposed to PDV….be brave enough to say so….and let the dominoes fall
I said it a few weeks ago, the old guard is on the way out….Juan is about to be dropped for Dewalt Potgieter , Burger is gone….anyone not backing the coach 100% doesent belong there.
29 Jun 2009, 19:46 pm
#380 grant10:
Lol a rumour is started with a whisper,
a Revolution requires martyrs
29 Jun 2009, 19:47 pm
#407 carol: next time we go say hi to Percy ….it was a priviliege to meet and share time with you all….regards to Mark,Richard and the beautiful Jane.
29 Jun 2009, 19:48 pm
#385 byoboy: British playing Minority Report again.
29 Jun 2009, 19:48 pm
#410 Boksarenumber1: well i am not tying no dynamite around my waist my friend!!
29 Jun 2009, 19:48 pm
#411 grant10:
The coach is a racist ******
29 Jun 2009, 19:49 pm
#409 Grant10 would Juan Smith be dropped for not giving PdV support? I would think its because of his performance.or it may be because Potgieter is playing better
29 Jun 2009, 19:49 pm
#409 grant10:
I dont believe the senior players mind Peter de Villiers at all and i think this whole incident with the press will only solidify that.
sorry grant but i dont subscribe to the view that schalk or juan or any of the other of these players, who are still young, should go unless they are dont buy into the coach in which case they probably should all go. But i believe they like the coach and that is why results are good, new players will be coming in, but this is team that just gone from winning a RWC, to an EOY cleansweep to a Lions series victory.
Its one of the great SA teams of the pro era and i see no reason at all to tweak any part of a winning combination.
29 Jun 2009, 19:50 pm
353. American_Rugger
Congrats man.One of the few unbiased comments.
Nobody wants to diminish the Boks fight back in the second
test,but the glory of the occasion was diminished by some
ill chosen remarks by the Springbok coach,who clearly suffers
from some sort of inferiority complex and unable to handle
the foreign press with any diplomacy or dignity.
He after all at that moment is the public face of South
African rugby and is doing a great job to entrance the
idea that Springbok rugby is all about robust thuggery and
that the average South African supporter is a throw back
to the Neanderthal man.
29 Jun 2009, 19:50 pm
#399 grant10: Yep, partied out, I have red eyes and an empty wallet!! Hehehehe
Will go back to healthy living tomorrow!!
Some of our group were put in Pretoria last night partying with some of the Lions, some priceless photos doing the rounds. Alun Wynn Jones topless dancing etc. Great laugh!
29 Jun 2009, 19:50 pm
#403 cab:
Yip let them nail their colors to their masts, each and every one, Keo and his little bunch of white pompous cronies along with Gavin Rich all sidling up with the Snake himself calling themselves ‘Winning Ways’ trying to drive wedges between a nation of sport enthusiasts, and every Tom, **** and Harry on here crying for spilled blood, they want this coach gone the bunch of sad eyed snakes.
Let the big Bok bonanza glory boy ‘Senior Players’ call their shots loud and clear, who they want as coach, PdV, or the Snake or His Highness the Meyer, let them nail their colors to the empirical mast right now, let the underhand bullsh’t stop today.
29 Jun 2009, 19:51 pm
#415 grant10:
Martyrs don’t blow themselves up, what are u smoking?
muslim weed?
29 Jun 2009, 19:51 pm
#414 Boksarenumber1: LOL….the way he defended Schalk today you wouldnt say so?
29 Jun 2009, 19:52 pm
#415 Heavens Game: Ja right, Potgieter is good. Better than Juan Smith? Never. He’s to busy doing the hard graft to be noticed. Trying to make Spies look decent. Wrong tree.
29 Jun 2009, 19:52 pm
Support the coach or go.
Now theres a novel approach!!
29 Jun 2009, 19:53 pm
I am very intersted to see who will be back up to FDUP on Sat, if Ricky is still out of the match 22 and Morne starts, is Pienaar cover for both ??
29 Jun 2009, 19:53 pm
#419 skopskiet:
Its ridiculous, you stand by your team and all of them who help to win.
What has De Villiers done to deserve this other than win test matches.
So he tells the media to get reamed, fantastic, its about time someone did.
29 Jun 2009, 19:53 pm
Well, we all know that you also have your own politically driven agenda, Ryan. PdV is generally a clown and an embarrasment but it simply does not matter what he says, you’ll never back him in any case.
I applaud him for his scathing attack on the British press – they have been nothing but disgraceful since Saturday, with no real congratulations coming forth, only a great deal of whining. And rugby is a contact sport and Bakkies’ ban is a disgrace. Why no ban against Sheridan & BoD if they are that serious about their aversion to “dirty” tactics.
What you have to admire about PdV, is that he is truely in love with the game. He even compared it with the Nobel prize, which says a lot of how high he rates the game and the achievement (I rate it higher though – LOL!).
Go PdV. For once I agree with what you said (even though most of it was clumsily spoken).
29 Jun 2009, 19:53 pm
#415 Heavens Game: i agree….not saying Juan doesent support PDV….by the way i do agree…dewalt currently better than Juan….
My point is that as Justrugby says with all this senior players anti PDV **** perhaps a good idea for the players to make a formal statement endorsing PDV?
29 Jun 2009, 19:54 pm
#416 cab: wont have to…i also believe they back PDV
29 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
#419 skopskiet: The popular vote don’t mean nuckall today Skop. But I hear you, and agree…in a perfect world.
29 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
#418 carol: brilliant….so glad you enjoyed your stay!
29 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
#407 carol: Hi Carol.
Good to hear that you had such a wonderful time.
And how nice a sportsman/woman you are congratulating the Boks.
I don`t like the British, but i sure like you.
29 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
#422 Isigidi my point was not so much Juan should definitely be dropped. It was rather that it is more likely for Juan to be dropped due to performance issues rather than loyalty to coach issues.
29 Jun 2009, 19:56 pm
#404 justrugby: Don’t know what sort of team the Lions will field on Saturday, heavens the walking wounded list is huge! WRS and Richard were wondering if they should offer their services to Ian McG!!
29 Jun 2009, 19:56 pm
#420 Boksarenumber1: no…but if youre offering????LOL
29 Jun 2009, 19:57 pm
#427 grant10: Please explain to me how Potgieter is better?
29 Jun 2009, 19:57 pm
#423 Bul-a-Bhloo:
not really, its called standing up for what you believe in.
If you believe the coach is letting the Bok down, have the courage of your conviction and step down. they all got money in the bank. no hassles.
29 Jun 2009, 19:58 pm
#426 King Shark: Nice post King
29 Jun 2009, 19:59 pm
Why does keo not Name the senior players that coach the Bok team? How else can he and the snake Take any credit than having the ************* believe they are Still running the Show.Dishonest.
29 Jun 2009, 19:59 pm
#433 carol: only if they brought bullet proof vests!!LOL
29 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#393 Osama – bin OCO: Hiya, big thank you for your book list…really gave me a flavour of your country. I have to come back!!
29 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#423 Bul-a-Bhloo: Yea, and the old fool doesn’t even know what the hell the word “empirical” means, but keeps on using it together with 100 other adjectives in every 2nd sentense
29 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#432 Heavens Game: Sorry mate. Got in late. Jip, I know Juan is outspoken IN INNER CIRCLES. Wasn’t he part of a little rebellion against some other coach as well? Strauli?
29 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#424 justrugby:
I’d pick H.Adams in an instant as scrummy backup and promote him to bench now.
I would still play Pienaar as run on fly on Saturday, I wouldn’t turn on him now, I’d show consistency and faith in his abilities, he will come good, the lads got plenty talent. I wouldn’t let him slide like they did to Gaffie du Toit, not unless they want him to disintegrate into a nobody.
29 Jun 2009, 20:01 pm
#412 The-Pill: boet this whole thing has been blown waay out of proportion by sore losers, I’ve watched that “incident” again and again, his finger was not gouging any eye. It’s just like the poms will never accept that they didn’t score that try in WC. They will find any excuse in the world as to why they didn’t win. Some even said it was unfair that they hadn’t played against 14 men which i found amusing coz that’s the only way they had a chance of winning
29 Jun 2009, 20:01 pm
#43 Sir_Charles_Napier: Come on man, the Boks didn’t eye-gouge their way to victory. The eye gouge had no meaningful effect on the game other than to hand the Lions a 10 point lead.
The Boks won fair and square and first minute indiscretion aside the Lions were every bit as aggressive throughout the 80mins.
29 Jun 2009, 20:02 pm
#435 Isigidi: Quicker,hungrier,as good as Juan at back of lineout…
Juan…as is schalk…were awesome….on m,erit and form i reckon Dewalt better currently…
Just an opinion m,ind you!
29 Jun 2009, 20:03 pm
#436 cab: Professional era where the players marketability can be adversely affected by the coach’s performance they have every right to complain. But if they do they gone. Can’t win.
As to loyalty / 100% support / three bags full sir, I say bullsh*t, you want loyalty get a dog.
29 Jun 2009, 20:04 pm
Does anyone know what happened to the Italian player who had his fingers in the kiwi locks eyes??
29 Jun 2009, 20:04 pm
425 and 426 well said. I agree totally.
427 maybe that would be good. But not all players have to agree with or like a coach to perform for a team. Sometimes you do it for the brother you bleed with beside you. But to combat these chinese whispers it would be a great antidote.
Anyway must go chaps. Its been a great time on this blog today. Must go – its a bit difficult blogging on Blackberry
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