0
What do you think of when you hear the name Peter de Villiers...
'De Villiers should not quit over sex tape'
September 09 2008 at 07:43AM
By Ashfak Mohamed
Sprinbok coach Peter de Villiers should heed the advice of Cedric Frolick, the deputy chairperson of the parliamentary sports portfolio committee, and not resign over the "sex tape" saga.
De Villiers will only be giving credence to those who have made these claims about him if he were to resign. He fought a dramatic battle to become Bok coach in the first place, against some of the greatest odds one can find in the history of South African rugby: the appointment of a black Springbok coach.
He has come a long way in rugby, from his days as a scrumhalf "with a long pass" in the 1970s and 80s to being a successful coach of various South African representative teams. He had to wait until he was the grand age of 50 before he got a proper job in rugby, and then it was the biggest one of all: Springbok coach.
As he would surely agree, there have been thousands of people who have fought their daily struggles in rugby over many years for the appointment of a black Springbok coach to become a reality.
The claims may have caused damage to his family and himself, but De Villiers is a strong-minded man, so he must stand his ground and fight to clear his name.
Saru did investigate the claims about a "sex tape" soon after De Villiers said he was approached by Bok communications manager Chris Hewitt a day before the All Black Test at Newlands, which took place on Saturday, August 16. Saru found no evidence to support Hewitt's claims of a "sex tape" existing and Hewitt is subsequently facing a misconduct hearing.
The claim that De Villiers was being blackmailed to retain an unnamed player in the Bok squad is also a dangerous one. He fought vigorously for the right to have the final say in selection and eventually got his way. The blackmail claim was also dismissed by Saru's investigation.
As far as is known, no one has seen a tape. And what will happen if, horrors of horrors, there is a "sex tape" showing De Villiers engaging in a sexual act with a woman in a car? Are those grounds to dismiss De Villiers? Surely not.
It would cause great embarrassment to the Bok coach, but, although he has a certain responsibility as a public figure, what he does in his private life has nothing to do with his abilities as a rugby coach. It would be an issue between him and his wife and the rest of the family. He must be judged on rugby grounds.
If there is a "sex tape", those who make it public would be committing the nastiest of acts to try and get rid of De Villiers. And if those who have hatched this saga are found to be in the wrong, they must be kicked out of rugby for good.
De Villiers has tried to change the Bok playing pattern with a game plan that places emphasis on skill.The record win over Australia in Johannesburg 10 days ago could be a watershed in terms of the Boks getting to grips with this new game plan. Fullback Conrad Jantjes confirmed in an interview with the Cape Times that there has been "buy-in" from the players with regards to De Villiers's game plan.
It is too soon to deliver a verdict on De Villiers as a coach. Yes, the Boks lost four out of six Tri-Nations matches and finished last on the log, but let's not forget the important fact that the Springboks have only won two Tri-Nations titles in the 13-year history of the competition.
The Bok coach has already achieved something that none of his predecessors could, victory over the All Blacks in Dunedin, while he also managed to guide the Boks to their first win in a decade on New Zealand soil. The 53-8 win over the Wallabies was also the Boks' biggest winning margin ever over Australia.
De Villiers will also be pleased to have seen the high quality of rugby on display in the Currie Cup at the weekend and will face a tough task in picking the Bok squad for the end-of-year tour to the UK.
Add those players coming through now to the current Bok group who annihilated Australia and the Boks should have a really powerful squad. So De Villiers would be wrong to walk away from his job now. To borrow one of his favourite sayings: even the bad times are good!
News - IOL Sport: 'De Villiers should not quit over sex tape'
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by laura
