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Cape Town - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has admitted that he made a mistake by not giving many of his young players a chance at an earlier stage.
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A very young Springbok side took a battering on their recent overseas leg in the Tri-Nations, first going down 39-20 to Australia in Sydney and then losing 40-7 against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.
De Villiers blames a lack of experience as the reason for the disastrous tour down under, and admits he got his timing wrong.
"When you look ahead over a four year period, you should give the young players more of a chance, so they can get more opportunities to play with the senior guys," said De Villiers.
"Because when you need someone, a team should not be as young as this one was (on the recent tour)."
De Villiers believes the players performed well individually, but struggled to perform as a unit.
However, De Villiers does not appear to learn from his mistakes. On last year's Grand Slam tour to Europe, he also picked a side consisting of too few experienced players to guide the young guns.
The Bok coach is nevertheless optimistic that the recent Australasian tour will stand South Africa in good stead for the future.
"The next Springbok coach will definitely have something to work with and this tour has really served an important function in that regard," said de Villiers.
Click to BUY the SA Rugby Annual 2011
A very young Springbok side took a battering on their recent overseas leg in the Tri-Nations, first going down 39-20 to Australia in Sydney and then losing 40-7 against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.
De Villiers blames a lack of experience as the reason for the disastrous tour down under, and admits he got his timing wrong.
"When you look ahead over a four year period, you should give the young players more of a chance, so they can get more opportunities to play with the senior guys," said De Villiers.
"Because when you need someone, a team should not be as young as this one was (on the recent tour)."
De Villiers believes the players performed well individually, but struggled to perform as a unit.
However, De Villiers does not appear to learn from his mistakes. On last year's Grand Slam tour to Europe, he also picked a side consisting of too few experienced players to guide the young guns.
The Bok coach is nevertheless optimistic that the recent Australasian tour will stand South Africa in good stead for the future.
"The next Springbok coach will definitely have something to work with and this tour has really served an important function in that regard," said de Villiers.
