The expression “cutting off your own nose to spite your face” comes to mind when I think of the conundrum South African rugby faces ahead of the Tri Nations. Let me explain.
I recently read that the South African Minister of Sport, Mr Makhenkesi Stofile, told Peter de Villiers to “sober up” or risk getting the sack.
The Minister of Sport then went on and said that De Villiers was fortunate to have won the British and Irish Lions series 2-1 because, taken along with his perchant for silly statements, failure would have seen him get the sack.
The words, ‘SACK’ and ‘PETER DE VILLIERS’ instantly hit home, and I thought, wait a minute: You’re telling me the more the ‘Boks succeed, the longer we have Peter de Villiers?
Spot the conundrum? Failure doesn’t look so bad from this angle if you’re a Bok fan, does it?
Taken to it’s logical extreme, I’m left wondering if the All Blacks or Wallabies will be able to take any credit and satisfaction from whatever victories they achieve this season. South Africa have a handy plausible escape built into this year Tri Nations, thanks to Peter de Villiers.
I can ever remember having such a luxury going in the Tri Nations. It’s the perfect WIN-WIN, no lose situation. I knew there was a reason I loved Peter de Villiers!
South Africa are the best team in 2009. If they don’t prove it in the Tri Nations, we’ll all know why.
Sam Taulelei
Roar Guru
To both Gregs I may be in the minority but I'm of the opinion that PDV has been hamstrung from the moment his appointment was announced. Oregan Hoskins made the extraordinary statement that PDV's appointment was also made for reasons other than rugby. I'm sure as a new employee trying to win over a euphoric public and champion team he would have been thrilled that his boss had thrown him the mother of all hospital passes by casting aspersions from the outset. Why would Hoskins make such a public statement? Only he can know. Heyneke Meyer was the popular and expectant choice and once he was unsuccessful he quit rugby and took up a job with an overseas sports supplement company before taking over from Marcello Loffreda at Leicester. It was echoing similar scenes in NZ between Henry and Deans. PDV's inexperience with handling the media and rambling responses made it easy to portray him as a bumbling buffoon and SARU puppet. However if you compare last years results he actually won more games than Robbie Deans and made history by beating NZ in NZ for the first time since 1998. His team inflicted a thrashing upon Australia at home and against England at Twickenham which had previously been a SA graveyard. In fact their unbeaten NH tour was SA's best results since Nick Mallett was coach. But PDV can't shake that stigma since the day he took on the job. Whereas in the past coloured selections would often raise eyebrows and spark SA umbrage, those players are beginning to perform on the world stage and vindicate their selections. Not all of them pay off, but every coach makes selection errors in their careers. It's incredible to hear that some fans in proud rugby nations as SA and NZ are deathriding their team if it means that it brings their coach one step closer to getting the sack.
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
From one Greg to another: you get bagged often enough for your writings at this site, so let me break the deafening silence from your detractors by complimenting you on some sensible thoughts. Perhaps you are being facetious with your article, but let me assure you that there are a significant number of people out there who give praise to the rugby gods that the current Springboks fall short of realizing their true potential as an international rugby team.