De Villiers survives SARU review
South African Springboks coach Peter De Villiers survived a coaching review from the South African Rugby Union earlier this week. De Villiers had been under fire after the Springboks underperformed at this year’s Tri Nations tournament.
South Africa was only able to win one game at the 2010 Tri Nations Cup and left the competition in last place. The Springboks were totally outmatched by the tournament champion New Zealand All Blacks and seemed out of place against the young Australian Wallabies.
The Springboks were expected to win the tournament heading in and instead finished last and dropped a place in the international rankings. Moreover, De Villiers sparked controversy when he suggested that the referees were favouring the All Blacks. In addition,
the skipper went through a well-publicized feud with Springbok player Frans Steyn and his club team Metro Racing.
South Africa’s poor showing this season and De Villiers propensity towards controversy caused many to speculate that he and his coaching staff would get the axe from the SARU. However, the head coach and his assistants, d**k Muir and Gary Gold, survived the
review and will remain in charge of the club, likely past the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
SARU chairman James Stoffberg spoke about the review, saying. “The committee’s focus was very much on examining areas where we can assist the Springbok team and coach in making sure they arrive at the field in the best possible state of preparation. We reviewed
the season to date and have discussed options for assisting the team in those preparations.”
Although the Springboks season has been disappointing up to this point De Villers believes they can turn it around and that the review was an important step towards a strong final push, stating. “It was a very helpful process as we have thoroughly reviewed
all out systems. We know the areas in which we must improve and we will be focusing on those in the remainder of the season.”
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