Springboks 'too white' says de Villiers
Mike Kilpatrick, Yahoo! New Zealand Sport September 18, 2012, 12:34 pm
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Former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers was well known for his outrageous comments during his tenure in charge of the team.
But since his axing as coach following the World Cup last year, de Villiers has been largely absent from the headlines.
His latest outburst however - this time at replacement Heyneke Meyer's squad - is sure to put the divisive figure back in the spotlight.
The 'Boks, who have beaten Argentina twice but lost to both Australia and the All Blacks, have been criticised for their performances in the inaugural Rugby Championship.
And de Villiers, the first non-white coach of the 'Boks, has put this down to Meyer's squad being 'too white'.
In an interview with South African radio the controversial coach said the "black support" was being turned against the Springboks and people were tackling negatively about the team.
"It's just the little things that bother me. We need to know in what country we do live," he said.
"And at this moment we are turning a lot of black people against ourselves by making the team white and nobody will talk about these things but I just have to.
"Actually we're breaking up our country again."
"We do have a lot of great players who can make a difference. You have Gio Aplon - here in Cape Town - who can make a hell of a difference."
"You've got Juan de Jongh, an exciting player who can make a difference. We never played Kolisi - who's now injured, he was never given a chance," de Villiers continued.
De Villiers' comments are sure to reignite the race row that has plagued South African rugby for years - he himself was criticised in the past as it was widely believed he only got the job because he was non-white.
PDivvy is back!!
I also think the Bokke are too white but we've just gotten past winter so give the boys a few days off and the African sun will do the rest.
It's very difficult to say as I don't know the conditions at mainly black clubs but the generalisation is that the 'black' clubs in traditionally black homelands tend to mismanage players and funds while the more settled clubs prefer a more traditional power based approach.
The other generalisation is that your average black kids generally struggle to compete physically with the average white kid. I tend to agree if I look at my own experiences and just standing in queues in shopping centers etc.
