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Ex-Springbok coach Peter de Villiers returns to rugby

Rassie Erasmus and Peter de Villiers

Peter de Villiers, who coached the Springboks to a test series triumph over the British and Irish Lions in 2009, has agreed to coach the country’s national deaf sevens team, including their World Cup challenge in Argentina in 2023..

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South African newspaper Rapport, said the controversial De Villiers’ appointment was confirmed by Reneen Stenekamp, president of the SA Rugby Association for deaf players.

Stenekamp said: “Peter has been appointed with immediate effect until and including the World Cup tournament for deaf sevens players in Cordoba, Argentina.”

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De Villiers responded to his new role saying: “During my time as Bok head coach, I firmly believed that rugby had the power to uplift the community and, more importantly, to develop individuals who might not have had the same access to sport like others.

“When the SA Rugby Association for the deaf approached me and explained their reasons for creating two teams for male and female players who will work to play in a World Cup next year, I immediately said I wanted to be involved.

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“The chance to add value to a class of rugby that I have never experienced before, to help individuals reach their potential and also to develop future leaders and finishers in South Africa is something that I simply could not pass up.”

De Villiers coached the Springboks from 2008 to 2011, after raising his profile with successes with the South African U19 and U21 squads and became the first-ever non-white to be appointed to the national coaching position. The Springboks won 30 of their 48 matches under De Villiers and he became the first coach since Nelie Smith to have secured a series win over the Lions.

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Last year de Villiers was named as the Good Party’s mayoral candidate for the Drakenstein local municipality. He has suffered tragedy away from rugby and in 2019 lost his daughter, Odille Monk, after a brave fight against cancer aged just 28 and in early April this year, De Villiers‘ wife’s body was found floating in a swimming pool in Gqeberha having drowned.

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Comments

1 Comment
B
Bob 869 days ago

The 2 most overrated people in rugby:

  1. Pieter de Villiers
  2. Ben 🤢🤮Smith
  3. mark Keohane
#2 & #3 are the same person

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SK 58 minutes ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.

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J
JW 6 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

147 Go to comments
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