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Div seeks x-factor in USA

Stephen Nell

Cape Town – Peter de Villiers may have distinguished himself as a top-notch Springbok coach, but will on Saturday depart for the United States so that he can also be coached prior to next year’s World Cup.

The Springbok coach will visit the Indianapolis Colts next week and after that spend two days with their renowned former coach Tony Dungy in Tampa. De Villiers will also visit Georgia Bulldogs coach Mark Richt.

The visit to Dungy, in particular, can be of huge value. Dungy in 2007 became the first African-American coach to win the Superbowl.

His coaching philosophy is one that elevates faith and family above the sport. It is similar to De Villiers’s approach.

“We are on course as far as our preparation for the World Cup (in 2011) is concerned from a rugby perspective, but the one thing that stands out to me is that I also have to work on myself as a person,” said De Villiers.

“You sometimes lose yourself and that prompted me to do some introspection. It may be the missing piece of the jigsaw that helps us to defend our status as world champions.

“Tony has that x-factor that I need. It’s about a lot more than just rugby.

“You should never forget your main purpose as a human being. Mine is to bring hope. People must be able to believe that they can reach their dreams with hard work.”

De Villiers also believes the visit to the USA can help on a rugby level.

“It has worried me for some time that we can be outstanding one week and then the next week not be able to replicate that performance,” he said.

“When we play against a country that is supposed to be an easier opponent, there is a tendency for our level to drop. The question is how to prepare irrespective of the opponent. Maybe I can find the answers on this trip.

“Everything in rugby is about preparation. We will leave no stone unturned in our bid to win the World Cup again.”

De Villiers will be accompanied by Arrie Hougaard, who assisted the Bok coach as media consultant last year during the tour by the British and Irish Lions.

Hougaard, who works as operational manager of Radio Tygerberg, arranged the meeting with Dungy.

Dungy retired as a coach at the end of 2008. He has written two books – Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practises and Priorities of a Winning Life and Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance.

• The information about Dungy was sourced from Wikipedia and his website, coachdungy.com.
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