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Div: I only answer to CEO

Adnaan Mohamed

London - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers says he has contract with SA Rugby, and as far as he is concerned he is only answerable to the CEO of the South African Rugby Union.

There were reports in a Sunday newspaper that De Villiers will, in future, have to answer to a technical committee on the performance of the Springboks.

But De Villiers was adamant that he has a contract with Saru and says that only if changes are made to his contract, that then he will have to report to these so-called experts in the future.

“I don’t know anything about such a committee. It is the first time I hear about it,” he said at the Springbok hotel on Sunday.

"All I know is that I still have a valid contract in place. I will first have to agree to changes in my contract before I report to such a committee.”

The beleaguered Bok coach says he is contracted to SA Rugby and when they make a decision he has to abide by it.

“I report to the highest order in Saru and at the moment that is the CEO. The organisation I work for is very big. From the outside it might seem that they are not very organised, but things are planned way ahead of time,” he explained.

According to reports, the technical committee will be asked to review the performance of de Villiers and his assistants Gary Gold and Dick Muir.

The experts are said to include former Springbok coaches. They are also the favourites to form the new technical committee to whom de Villiers would have to report in the future.

Meanwhile, the Bok coach says the Springboks want to do justice to the Bok jersey when they face the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.

“It will not only be prestige that will be on the line. The biggest single challenge is to do justice to the Bok jersey. 

“We know the Barbarians want to hold on to possession for long periods. They have a star-studded team that carries a lot of weight in years of experience, and they would like to make a lot of metres on our young players.

“The difference between the Barbarian game and any other test is the jersey that you are playing for. It doesn’t matter what happens.

"Everybody will say it is the Boks that are playing there. And for me that is the carrot that is dangled in front of us. We have to make sure we perform to the best of our ability against the Baabaas,” he added.
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