Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but he is in his own words, ‘true to himself’.
rugby365
Without doubt De Villiers has been the most entertaining of all the mentors to take charge of South Africa’s national team.
For four years he entertained the world’s media with his unique sayings and weird parables and true to form he produced a few brand new pearlers at the Cape Town launch of his book: ‘POLITIOCALLY INCORRECTY, the autobiography’.
Describing himself as “the Mandela of rugby”, De Villiers set out to explain to the audience that he was indeed a unifying force in the country and not the divisive figure so many of his critics felt he was.
Using terms like ‘I am my own man’ and ‘I stay true to myself’, he was at his brilliant best and certainly not holding back.
As he said in his book: “Quisque sibi verus [from Hamlet by William Shakespeare -.to thine own self be true].”
As forthright as he is in the publication, described as the ‘most honest rugby book ever’, De Villiers took pot shots at the media and had some words of ‘wisdom’ for his successor, Heyneke Meyer.
He said that initially he did not want to write a book.
“But after that statement that my appointment ‘did not take into account rugby reasons only’ [uttered by South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins], I [later] decided I owe it to the people of the world, especially the black people … I owe it to them, to tell the story,” De Villiers said.
In the book he makes it very clear that he took exception to being labelled a ‘transformation’ coach by his employers, SARU, and he had some equally strong words for the members of the media with whom he had a love-hate relationship throughout his tenure.
Turning to his co-author, Gavin Rich, he said: “The book tells what a great school [Northlands Boys High] you went to, and what a great college [Rhodes University] you went to, but it never tell me where you played your rugby.
“That was the problem with most of the rugby writers in this country, [they] never played good rugby … most of them never even played for their school’s first team. They wanted to have high achievements and they felt heartbroken to see this little guy held in such high [esteem]… that is the kind of jealousy and envy I experienced.”
De Villiers said the true measure of a man’s character is how you react to what people say about him.
And then he produced one of his best parables yet, likening himself to the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, in describing how he felt he managed to unite all the people behind the Springboks.
“I managed to unite more people in this country,” De Villiers told his audience, adding: “I don’t want to bring Mandela in here, but I think I was the Mandela of rugby … [I] brought hope to people, to motivate [them] and [encourage them] to learn.”
Despite being unable to find employment in rugby in his own country, De Villiers said he will not be heading abroad for employment.
He said he wants “share” his knowledge with South African coaches.
He recently offered his services to SARU, who ignored him, and although the minister of sport suggested he would set up some kind of position where De Villiers can be involved at grassroots level, nothing has come of his so far either.
De Villiers made reference to Stormers defence coach, Jacques Nienaber, whom he described as one of the “most astute rugby brains in the country” and added that he “can’t understand why you [Nienaber] is not in the Springbok set-up”.
He said it would be a great loss to South Africa should Nienaber be snapped up by a team from abroad, as was the case when two other former Bok coaches, Nick Mallett and Jake White, accepted offers from other countries when they were unwanted at home.
Asked if he had a message for his successor, Heyneke Meyer, he had a dig at his former bosses at SARU: “Whatever he does wrong, you can’t blame him, blame the people who put him there … they are the people responsible. We must support him.”
His advice to Meyer: “Some of us get old and never grow up. By growing up, I don’t mean becoming an adult, growing up means knowing who you are. You should be true to yourself. Heyneke must be true to himself. I hope he knows what he wants and I hope he knows how he can get there.”
Then, being true to himself and being as politically incorrect as his book’s title suggest, De Villiers showed again why he is such a unique character.
“I don’t expect white people to understand black people and I don’t expect black people to understand white people, I do expect you to understand yourself. When you understand yourself, you know where you stand in life…”
The little man is a hoot and a likable chap, pity he such a fool and a tool too.
@ grootblousmile:
Voel dit nie beter nou dat ons weer ‘n proper coach het nie?
Maar jy is reg, Snor is ‘n baie likable chap. Hy moet net nie die Bokke of Bulle coach nie.
2 @ Boerewors:
Man, dis soos dag en nag verskil tussen die 2 coaches…. kan regtig nie wag vir Heyneke om vir ons te wys wat steek regtig in die Bokke nie.
Ons moet net geduldig wees, dit gaan nie van meets af aan smooth sailing wees nie… dis ‘n proses wat homself behoorlik moet deurwerk!
@ grootblousmile: Ja, ek wens hy kon ten minste 2 weke kry om voor te bery. Ons moet net nie teen die Engelse verloor nie – hulle praat nou nog in Engeland oor die 1966 Sokker World Cup!
Ek is ook bly ander Pieter De Villiers is die skrum coach. En dat Rassie die tegniese werk doen.
“You should be true to yourself. Heyneke must be true to himself. I hope he knows what he wants and I hope he knows how he can get there.”
..
think it was rugby365 themselves who, after the selection of the “32′, ran an article somewhere in the lines of “heyneke already showing he will be his own man” wherein they say that early indications were that heyneke will not be swayed by public opinion.
(now
whether he, when the pressure starts mounting, will still not be swayed by “public opinion”, remains to be seen)
point i’m trying to make is
i cant see anything wrong with the advice given there!
..
I see in Wordsworth, they’ve knocked a healthy whack off the price of the book already. I wonder how well the book is selling.
#5
for clarity, lets just say that if this was an essay,
the writer of this article wouldve gotten 0 for his effort!!
this is poor journalism, this guy is trying to build an article around one phrase/ one line of thought
but
fails miserably.
this in fact is a good example of the shit i had to shift through in the last few years in order to make up my own mind!!
#7
and before someone jump on my back and try to hump me … this is exactly the same kind of courtesy i’m willing to extend to heyneke meyer and whoever follows after him!!!
8 @ ashley:
We expect nothing else.
Any Bok coach must know the public expects nothing but the best, and it’s no different for Heyneke or anybody else.
gbs @ 9
exactly!!
thing is … the media sometimes have their own agendas … it does seem strange that so many different writers from different publications sometimes seems to be following each other like sheep, but it happens. remember jw? remember the bad publicity he received for a while? remember keocaine? remember how he suddenly made a “gat-omkeer”? why? because he got rights (or was promised it anyway) of writing a book (for jw) somewhere in future!!
no boet, not everything written is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. you have to make your mind up about things, no matter how many others believe otherwise.
10 @ ashley:
It’s called being an INDEPENDANT THINKER…
Which, for me is an absolute MUST!
I consider myself one, and probably the main reason I do not ascribe to one Christian church or one Christian church denomination… I’m definately not going to follow the interpretations of some Dominee or Pastor and accept HIS interpretation of the Bible. I want to interpret and analize myself.
Same applies to the rest of my life… I make choices, based on MY interpretations and my experiences.
That said, I will listen when someone speaks sense… and use that as part of MY experiences and interpretations.
I really feel that Supersport should employ him as an analyst. He would bring some light relief to the commentary. He could become a legend.
lions @ 12
you cant use someone as an analyst who have problems expressing himself
gbs @ 11
good to hear that.
to be honest, i’ve become a bit worried about you, especially the (frustrated?) way in which you defended so many of heyneke’s decisions so early in his springbok coaching career. now before you try and hump me (again, 😀 )
you wouldve noticed that i, for one, was open to suggestions like the return of matfield, the use of fourie du preez etc, so this is nothing to do with provincial bias
i’m just wondering whether you’ll stay so open-minded when the emotions start taking over!!
Ash, I was saying tongue in cheek 🙂
lions @ 15
i know
😀 i was just stopping anyone elaborating on it, hehehe
#16
shouldve been … anyone ELSE
14 @ ashley:
If Heyneke farks around, he’ll hear from me too, believe me.
… but so far he’s done well…
He’s garnered SARU’s full support & buy-in
He’s got the Franchises working with him
He’s chosen a squad of 32 containing maybe 3 odd choices…. and I’ll grant him his way, he might know something we don’t
He’s chosen a Bokke 22 for this weekend which I am quite chuffed about
The Bokke and aspiring Bokke players seem hyped up and excited and willing to give their all
No bad media relations have resulted, but a lot of media expectations and speculation
Now, not 1 minute of on-field play has been seen… and this weekend we’ll see what happens… and ease into the general Heyneke era…
So, my expectations are high, tempered by the limited time he has had to gel the side…
gbs @ 18
i am as exited as you are
but
my general feeling is that theres a few guys in the media with knives already sharpened … theres just this little murmur in the media by some scribes who, at this moment, is writing articles using the feeling of the general public as an excuse to air some of their views … that murmur will become louder if heyneke’s bloubokkies (hehehe) should fall onto hard times!!
but
hey, why all this negativity?
come-on
its time to get behind the bokke
..
so
goooooooooooo bokke!!
bleksem helle!! moer helle!!
19 @ ashley:
I believe your attitude to be right, and mine right too… we seem positive.
We are clearly behind our team and as a result behind our coach.
…. but yip, some scribes would like nothing more than for Heyneke to fail or be mediocre, in fact some here on this website are also looking for a shambock to hit Meyer with… specifically one Snor diciple, who walks around like a bear with a sore tooth…
Gooooooo Bokkkeeeeee
Moer hulleeeeeeeeeeee!
#gbs @ 18
agree with you
thus far he has done well
and
all indications are that he is putting the right structures into place to benefit sarugby for years to come.
my concern in #19
is that he will not be afforded the time to do so by certain parts of the media.
gbs @ 20
the snor disciple … you’re not talking about me, are you?
21 @ ashley:
Let’s see…. this Saturday and the 2 Tests hereafter is important.
It is important to get going on a winning foot… then tweak more and more as time goes on…
22 @ ashley:
No, not you, you’ve been very level-headed about the whole thing.
gbs @ 24
are you sure, hehehehe
#23
on a serious note … yes, we need to win these three tests … would be far to early to expect seeing the influence of heyneke on the boks yet,
but any little indication of which way he’s heading will be welcomed 😉
(otherwise what are we going to discuss in the week to come? 😯 )
hey btw
just dont tell him i said so!!! 
what happened to old TIGHTHEAD?
do you think he’ll come back now and chat rugby again?
he’s been proven right on some of the things he said beforehand, you know?
This test will see Bulls rugby, but the next two we will see little tweaks. And in the Castle Championship, a few more but we will not see him straying too far from his blueprint. I believe HM’s tenure will be more of an evelutionary reign than a revolutionary one. The changes will come in small increments, and when we compare his last game (may that be lifting the WC in 4 years time)whenever that may be to his first, we will be amazed at how the Bokke will be playing. And I believe we will have leapfrogged AB’s as world leaders in rugby.
lions @ 27
may one say AMEN on this site … cause that what i feel like doing!!
I am sure GBS wont mind.
lions @ 29
lol
anyway, thanks for the chat. see u tomorrow!! cheers!!
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