PdV’s free ride is over
1 Sep 2010
JON CARDINELLI says the only surprise regarding Peter de Villiers’ impending dismissal is that it’s taken this long for Saru to realise he’s a complete liability.
There’s been plenty happening behind the scenes since Monday’s press conference in Bloemfontein. De Villiers wasn’t asked about the Bees Roux murder case, but felt obliged to bring it up while waxing lyrical about the hope the Boks bring to people in dire situations. He said that the Boks are behind Roux 100%, a statement that’s caused an uproar in certain communities and enraged his employers at Saru.
This careless comment could be the final straw. Come Sunday, De Villiers should be gone.
De Villiers will face a disciplinary committee this week and an announcement regarding the incident will be made on Sunday. The deluge of embarrassing comments he’s made during his three-year tenure will be used against him as grounds for an early dismissal.
No one should be surprised, because if it were any other coach, they would have been fired long ago. There’s no denying De Villiers has brought the game into disrepute. The Bees Roux statement was a misplaced show of patriotism, an absurd gesture. He’s never been a fit spokesman for the Boks and his latest offering only underlines the fact.
De Villiers in a press conference is like a loaded gun. The slightest provocation sets him off. On Monday, that gun exploded without prompting. Saru should bullet him on Sunday, but they cannot say that they didn’t see another verbal calamity coming. Keeping him as Bok coach will continue to risk the reputation of Saru, the Boks and South Africa itself.
Nick Mallett and Jake White were two of South Africa’s more successful coaches, but their strong-willed personalities saw them clashing with the top brass at Saru. Mallett was fired after complaining about ticket prices, something most South Africans complain about on a weekly basis. White won the World Cup, but it wasn’t enough. Saru wanted him out after 2007, and his resignation pre-empted their move to displace him.
What if Mallett or White had botched a press conference so spectacularly that they ended up condoning eye-gouging? Would they have made it to the next Test, let alone the next season?
De Villiers showed his support for Schalk Burger after the second Test against the Lions in 2009, but his misfiring mouth spoke about gouging lions on the highveld in the same breath, an arrogant and defiant statement that almost dared the authorities to censor him.
In 2008, he responded to criticism by saying he’d had enough, and that they ‘should give rugby back to the whites’. On Monday in Bloemfontein, he made another outrageous claim that smacked of mindless bravado, ‘You’re either for us or you’re against us’. He spoke about the laager being closed and how the team is unified and immune to any criticism. And here I’d thought we were done with the laager mentality. Apparently not.
Earlier this year, his comment on live television intimated referees favoured the All Blacks because of the 2011 World Cup, and referees knew it was in New Zealand’s interest that the home team remained successful.
Former Wallabies hooker Brendan Cannon called him a clown, a view shared by many opposition coaches and players abroad, and a few in this country as well. If De Villiers is a clown, he’s the unfunny kind, and the only people laughing are those who aren’t South African. They want De Villiers to continue because they know he’s the Boks’ primary stumbling block. Technically, he offers nothing, and his controversial rants only result in more pressure on a team that he’s ironically sworn to protect.
All these incidents have been kept in a file and the latest comment, which amounts to backing an alleged murderer, should be the blunder that hastens his departure. He no longer enjoys the government’s support, and his president will no longer tolerate his arrogance. Regan Hoskins has been instructed not to comment, but deal with the situation. There’s no way De Villiers can survive the axe. Anything but an axing will be a let off.
Regardless of what happens in the final Tri-Nations Test on Saturday, Peter de Villiers can no longer be tolerated. The Boks are the world champions and the South African community should accept nothing but the best. It’s been obvious from day one that De Villiers doesn’t fit the criteria, and he’s consistently proved it over a three-year career. The free ride is over.
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752 Comments
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1 Sep 2010, 11:11 am
off with his head dragons
1 Sep 2010, 11:12 am
Bye bye Diffy
1 Sep 2010, 11:15 am
Surely putting PDV before an enquiry is racist, and an affront to SA Rugby.
Will Saru be looking to end SANZAR as a result??
1 Sep 2010, 11:15 am
I’d say the players still back him.
1 Sep 2010, 11:18 am
So it seems Keo and his cronies have achieved what they have set out to do the day PDV was appointed as Bok coach.
I wish I could run into Jon one day in a dark alley!!
1 Sep 2010, 11:20 am
@wpw(wpw)-5:
keo
to tough
for
you
1 Sep 2010, 11:22 am
Alistair or Heyneke?
Matfield is Meyer’s captain so that might put an unnecessary spanner in the team dynamic so close to the world cup.
Waaaaaay overdue.
1 Sep 2010, 11:22 am
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-6:
too
1 Sep 2010, 11:22 am
Thank god….. AT LAST!!
1 Sep 2010, 11:23 am
Celebrates and embraces mediocrity.
Asserts that one can’t control winning or losing.
Has stated that he’s just happy to be in the position he’s in, and that even the bad days are good.
Alienates Bok supporters by telling them if they criticise (which is their inalienable right) then his Boks are against them.
Has soured relations with the two most talented backline players to emerge out of SA in the past five years.
Condones violence on the field.
Has stated that he may urge his team to cheat.
Supports a potential murderer.
The list goes on…
SACK HIM! SACK HIM NOW!
Heynecke Meyer
Alistair Coetzee
Jake White
Rassie Erasmus
Dawie Theron
All waiting in the wings.
1 Sep 2010, 11:23 am
Okay so let me get this right…
He is going to be fired (according to this website) for things he said to the media?
Most of which have been discussed and debated both ways, at times completely taken out of context?
For which he was found not guilty in official disciplinary hearings?
Well I would love it if they did do this…
1 Sep 2010, 11:23 am
Can’t say I won’t support that decision. Hell, I welcome it.
1 Sep 2010, 11:23 am
What’s the smell??
Oh, fat porra opened his mouth! That explains it!!
1 Sep 2010, 11:24 am
not
a given
yet
1 Sep 2010, 11:24 am
@wpw(wpw)-5:
PDV has done this all by himself.
I fear KEO is right though – wishful thinking that we’ll see the back of him.
1 Sep 2010, 11:26 am
@wpw(wpw)-13:
just
because
you’re scared
of keo
you say
i stink
typical
gangster
mentality
take a
few
fellow
gangsters
with knives
and guns
you’ll be
okay
even against
keo
1 Sep 2010, 11:28 am
PuffDivvy — his lips are flapping while his brain is napping.
1 Sep 2010, 11:28 am
My guess is if Div gets the boot, then so should Hoskins and some of his deputies. Now that would be wishful thinking.
Do we really think a second win on Saturday is a turning point? Somehow I think the Aussies will have our number this time, and so should they. They threw away the match and it wasn’t a case of us winning through brilliant play.
What is so annoying is that the players we have should be winning matches easily considering how talented they are, but all that has been coached out of them. They weren’t exactly bad during the Super 14, so why are they now? Having said that, it depends of course if you were playing for the Lions….and they were coached by Muir….who is also a Bok assistant coach.
Say no more.
1 Sep 2010, 11:29 am
I always supported giving Div a go and i thought i was justified after his first year. But seriously, you can’t be world champions, and be continually making such dumb statements. The rugby world needs to respect us even when we are in a slump, but with these outbursts i don’t think they can.
I live abroad and watch rugby mostly with kiwis, aussies and poms and every week i find myself trying to justify what he has said.
Coaching team of Rassie, Os and Percy is the “quick-fix” we need before th WC>
1 Sep 2010, 11:29 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-17: That is about right.
1 Sep 2010, 11:30 am
he
was out
of his
depth
from the
start
so who
appointed
him
that’s the
question
1 Sep 2010, 11:31 am
Come Sunday, he’ll be gone??? On what basis JC? Cos YOU said so???
Gosh, I wanted to be nice today, but this thumbsucking is getting under my skin.
Rugby365 reports: The latest outcry against the outspoken Bok coach came after he told a media gathering in Bloemfontein that the Springbok team is “100 percent” behind Blue Bulls prop Bees Roux, who faces murder charges after a metro police officer was killed in Pretoria last Friday.
(* To listen to Peter de Villiers’s comments, CLICK HERE!)
Earlier reports suggested that De Villiers was expected to face a disciplinary hearing, because of his statement that the team is behind Roux.
However, South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins told rugby365.com that there is no plans for a disciplinary hearing involving De Villiers.
Hoskins added that he will have a “heart-to-heart” with De Villiers about his statements in the media.
1 Sep 2010, 11:32 am
Give it to Plum – should cause a stir back in NZ!
1 Sep 2010, 11:32 am
What the Hell is this ****? It will be a calamity if Div is axed. The team will be in freefall.
1 Sep 2010, 11:33 am
@superbok(superbok)-18: ‘What is so annoying is that the players we have should be winning matches easily considering how talented they are’
I think you vastly overrate their talent.
1 Sep 2010, 11:34 am
@Victor4CAPTAIN(UnbeataBULL)-22: exactly … heart to heart … sorry, we have to let you go Div.
1 Sep 2010, 11:35 am
@Victor4CAPTAIN(UnbeataBULL)-22:
You should know by now they have impeccable ‘sources close to the team’
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-25:
As do all South Africans…
1 Sep 2010, 11:37 am
These Keo ******** are annoying. Div is staying till 2011. Deal with it.
1 Sep 2010, 11:37 am
This is based on rumour. There is no hearing scheduled.
1 Sep 2010, 11:37 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-25: not looking for an argument and not agreeing with the original statement … but SA really does have the most talent on offer. We just don’t use it properly.
It’s a bit like Indian cricket, they should be able to field 3 sides of dominating the world.
1 Sep 2010, 11:38 am
@iori Yagami(iori Yagami)-24:
The team is already in freefall.
Replacing the coaching staff now with astute replacements is the best thing to do.
1 Sep 2010, 11:38 am
@iori Yagami(iori Yagami)-28: so why you here if they so annoying and stupid and don’t know what they talking about?
1 Sep 2010, 11:40 am
Bulls/stormers coaching staff is the answer. Too risky one year out from the world cup, though.
1 Sep 2010, 11:41 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-25: The players are mentally and physically drained. The players are going through a slump. We will be ready next year. Its not that they have been uncoached.
1 Sep 2010, 11:42 am
Okay wtf am I missing here.
I have no read his comments on Roux about 4 times, even listened to the audio clip and I am struggling to see why everyone is in such a big hoo-haa about the incident?
1 Sep 2010, 11:43 am
* now read…
1 Sep 2010, 11:44 am
hoskins is going to do what straeuli did with keo when the geo cronje saga erupted…a tete-a-tete about how we don’t want to alienate communities, constituencies etc..
1 Sep 2010, 11:45 am
@kevin w(kevin w)-32: I am here for the rugby news! Not this **** that they think up! Why are you here?
1 Sep 2010, 11:45 am
@Chris D(Chris D)-7: Heyneke perhaps – cant see Matfield being his captain being a problem. I think John Smit is being a greedy pig trying to go for anotehr World Cup before retiring. He is out of form and no longer an asset as a player. As part of the forward coaching staff no problem.
Matfield is on his last World Cup too – he deserves to be in it as captain. And frankly I think at the moment he is probably a better captain than John Smit as well.
1 Sep 2010, 11:45 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-33:
Not necessarily.
There is continuity in either Meyer or Coetzee.
Meyer – Bulls comprise large part of squad and he is an exceptional motivator. He could conceivably get the Boks up to optimum level for NZ next year.
Coetzee – has worked with the RWC 2007 players plus new Boks like Louw, De Jongh, Aplon. Appears to be a fantastic man-manager and exceptionally articulate at press conferences.
1 Sep 2010, 11:47 am
Man fire die ou en kry klaar, en fire sommer sy twee assistent coaches . Baie swak kombinasie , my magtig die een wil meer se oor hoe die game gespeel moet word. Dink die spelers weet self nie eens meer watter game plan hulle moet speel nie. So ja raak nou van hulle ontslae asb. Dis hoog tyd dat daai plek weer bietjie skoon gevee word.
1 Sep 2010, 11:48 am
@puff(puff)-31: The team is in a temporary slump….this happens in all sport codes. New management I agree with you can have a positive effect but then again it can also have a negative effect. New systems, new tactics, new favourites new ideas. This is ludicrous one year from the WC.
1 Sep 2010, 11:49 am
What a totally ridiculous article written to create hits on the site.
1 Sep 2010, 11:50 am
MEYER! It would be fantastic.
1 Sep 2010, 11:50 am
How is the coach suppose to prosper if there is so much negativity around?
1 Sep 2010, 11:53 am
@kevin w(kevin w)-30: I was really talking about the current 3N team, it’s nothing special in the forward pack. Re. SA’s talent, I think the problem is they don’t manage it correctly, they contrive to have a lot of their best talent out injured.
1 Sep 2010, 11:55 am
@iori Yagami(iori Yagami)-42: It happens every time, few months out of the RWC journos get on the “Axe the coach” horn, as predictable as the tides, from now till the WC PDivvy wont be able to even drop a dart without the people calling for his head just you watch, absolute madness
1 Sep 2010, 11:55 am
@iori Yagami(iori Yagami)-38: Its enough to make one vomit on one’s keyboard!
1 Sep 2010, 11:55 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-33: Whats risky is keeping P Divvy and co on as the coaching staff
I say wholesale changes to coaching staff. Its not like the players wont know the coachign staff. The Boks are fairly well split between the Bulls and Stormers with a few Sharks chucked in so if ALlister Coetzee and Heyneke Meyer were running the ship I hardly think that would be problematic.
Need to bring in the new players on EOYT and give them a furthur run in June Tests and Tri Nations. If they step up to the plate they NEED to be in the World Cup squad. Just 2 months ago people were vascillating between selections like Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon and Francois Houghaard… who can deny they all deserve a fulltime place in the squad at the moment?
Id say furthur youngsters that need to be included for either the fulltime World Cup squad or as substitutes for the World Cup squad (that is 3rd rank players that will remain in Sa during World Cup and only be called up if 1st or 2nd choice player is injured) should be the following:
1 Coenie Oosthuizen
2 Deon Fourie
3 Werner Kruger
4 Flip van der Merwe
5 Anton van Zyl (not a youngster but 3rd choice for sure)
6 Francois Louw or Stegmann
7 Willem Alberts
8 (Kankowski)
9 not needed as with 2 scrummies and Francois Houghaard in the team there wont be a need (Vermaak if needed)
10 not needed as with M Steyn and James in the squad and Patrick Lambie there wont be a need (Peter Grant if it gets there)
11 Bjorn Basson or Nokwe
12 not needed with J de Villiers and Juan de Jongh and Frans Steyn as backup in the squad (Wynand Olivier)
13 Not needed with Jacques Fourie Francois Houghaard and Juan de Jongh in squad
14 Lionel Mapoe
15 Not needed with Frans Steyn, Lambie and Aplon in the squad but in case (Conrad Jantjes or Riaan Viljoen)
1 Sep 2010, 11:57 am
JC, show your thumbsucking face! Where did you get your “facts” Do you know something we dont?
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