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Controversial former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers sacked by rugby minnows

Former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has been sacked by rugby minnows Zimbabwe due to unauthorised leave from work, according to documents from the Zimbabwe Rugby Union.

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De Villiers was fired last month, but has indicated that he will challenge his employer’s decision and appeal his dismissal in a labour court.

The ZRU documents detail how de Villiers, who coached the Springboks from between 2008 and 2011, failed to return to work from a vacation last year.

As a result, he was suspended and then later fired following a disciplinary hearing.

De Villiers was hired by the ZRU on a two-year contract in February 2018 with the intention of getting the tier three nation back into the World Cup for the first time since 1991 via the annual African Gold Cup competition.

The winner of last year’s edition of the tournament would qualify directly into Pool B of the World Cup, while the runner-up would qualify for the repechage round, with the winner of that also gaining entry into Pool B alongside tier one nations New Zealand, South Africa and Italy.

Not only did Zimbabwe fail to finish in the top two of the Gold Cup – Namibia won the tournament, while Kenya finished second but failed to progress from the repechage round – but they finished fifth of six teams, with their only win coming in their final match against Uganda.

A last-placed finish would have seen them relegated from Africa’s premier continental tournament, but a 23-all draw salvaged against sixth-placed Morocco prevented saved De Villiers’ and Zimbabwe’s blushes.

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The 61-year-old’s reign in charge of Zimbabwe was also troublesome off-field, as he fell out and then fired assistant coach and former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Dawson, accusing him of undermining his authority.

During his time with the Springboks, De Villiers was more successful, but experienced similar off-field issues.

After becoming the first-ever non-white coach of South Africa, he led them to a series win over the British and Irish Lions, a Tri-Nations title in 2009, which included a rare hat-trick of victories over the All Blacks, and the number one spot on the world rankings.

However, he attracted criticism for a number of provocative comments, which included accusing the All Blacks of cheating, and defending one of his players from eye-gouging during the Lions tour by saying rugby was “a contact sport”.

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After a tense 11-9 defeat to the Wallabies in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, De Villiers was not offered a new contract by the South African Rugby Union.

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J
JW 47 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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