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Div continues hitting out at Heyneke

Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has continued his scathing criticism of current coach Heyneke Meyer.

An emotional De Villiers was a guest speaker when Cosatu hosted a 'Springbok supporters for transformation' meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday night.

At the meeting De Villiers lashed out at Meyer’s decision to recall Jean de Villiers to the Bok set-up during the recently concluded Rugby Championship.

De Villiers was referring in particular to the loss to Argentina in Durban when Meyer picked the Bok captain at No 13 and moved Jesse Kriel to the wing at the expense of Cornal Hendricks.

“The coach came out and said that Jesse Kriel is the best centre in the world - and he never played there! Was that to exclude people like Juan de Jongh and those kind of players?" De Villiers questioned.

“When Jean de Villiers got back, he (Meyer) dropped the best player in the world - according to him - for Jean de Villiers. But then he dropped another player of colour to keep that boy on the field of play.”

De Villiers also criticised SARU after it was reported that they had extended Meyer’s contract by another four years to 2019.

De Villiers feels Meyer has not ticked all the right boxes in order to get a contract extension.

“What is the reason for the four (more) years. Is there something that he protects that they want to relive or keep on living for the rest of our lives?”

De Villiers, who coached the Springboks between 2008 and 2011, has made headlines over the past few weeks for his scathing criticism of Meyer.

He recently wrote in a column that the current Bok coach “underestimated the intelligence of black people with a dishonest selection”. 

He has also said that Meyer has taken South African rugby “into the gutters”.

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