Rugby Championship

Div upset with 'white' Boks

2012-09-17 22:21
Peter de Villiers (File)
Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is upset with what he feels is too white a Springbok team currently playing in the Rugby Championship.

VIDEO: Peter de Villiers interview

GALLERY: Springboks return home

The Boks have failed to win their last three games in the competition, with a 21-11 loss to New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday leaving them in second-last position on the log.

But De Villiers feels it's not only the team's poor results on the field turning the fans against Heyneke Meyer's charges, but also the racial composition of the side.

Speaking to Ballz Radio on Monday, De Villiers lashed out at the Bok management's apparent lack of interest in selecting players of colour.

"It's just the little things that bother me. We need to know in what country we do live. And at this moment we are turning a lot of black people against ourselves by making the team white and nobody will talk about these things but I just have to. And that is what... actually we're breaking up our country again," said De Villiers.

The former Bok mentor also questioned the fact that there's no existent quota system in place anymore. He singled out a few players of colour which he feels should have been given more chances this season.

"We do have a lot of great (black) players who can make a difference. You have Gio Aplon - here in Cape Town - who can make a hell of a difference. You've got Juan de Jongh, an exciting player who can make a difference. We never played (Siya) Kolisi - who's now injured, he was never given a chance.

"There are a lot of players like Chiliboy Ralepelle. He was the one guy who can make that 10% difference that you need from a replacement to come onto the field.

"We're turning all the black support against the Springboks. Wherever I go I hear people talking negative about the Springboks," said De Villiers.

Saturday's Bok team against the All Blacks did feature three players of colour (Zane Kirchner, Bryan Habana and Tendai Mtwarira) in the starting line-up, while De Jongh was among the substitutes.

De Villiers started his tenure as Bok coach in 2008 under a cloud of controversy, with SARU admitting the decision wasn't made purely on rugby reasons, but rather political. Back then Meyer was the preferred candidate to succeed the World Cup winning coach Jake White.

De Villiers led the Boks to a series victory over the British and Irish Lions in 2009, as well as the Tri-Nations title in that same year. However, things started unravelling the next two years and his time with the national team ended when the Boks crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage to Australia last year.

De Villiers is currently the director of rugby at the University of the Western Cape.

HAVE YOUR SAY: What did you think of former Bok coach Peter de Villiers’s views. Are you happy with the racial composition of the Bok team? Send your thoughts to Sport24.

NEXT ON SPORT24X

Stormers dent Reds' hopes

2013-05-25 22:19

 

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Comment on this story
410 comments
Add your comment
Comment 0 characters remaining
Live Video Streaming
Video Highlights
Sport Talk

Fixtures
17 August 2013
Australia v New Zealand, Sydney 12:05
South Africa v Argentina, Bloemfontein 15:00
24 August 2013
New Zealand v Australia, Wellington 09:35
Argentina v South Africa, Mendoza 21:10
07 September 2013
New Zealand v Argentina, Hamilton 09:35
Australia v South Africa, Brisbane 12:05
Logs
Team P W PTS
Vote

What did you think of the Springboks' performance against the All Blacks? Were the All Blacks worthy 32-16 winners?

 
 
Sport24 on Twitter

Follow Sport24 news on Twitter

Featured Blog

GEN De La Rey says the Stormers have had a pretty bad run when it comes to refs, assistant refs and TMO calls this season. He says such glaring ref errors have no place in the professional game.

Latest blogs
 

Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter

Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter

Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there

WIN Enter and win with Sport24!

Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services

BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry

iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone

Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page

TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide

RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.

 
There are new stories on the homepage. Click here to see them.