News

De Villiers laments 'conservative' Boks

June 21 2008

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers says he is happy with his team's 26-0 win over Italy at Newlands on Saturday but feels his team played too conservatively at times.

In appalling weather conditions the Springboks seldom gave the ball any air and were content to rely on the massive boot of fly-half Francois Steyn and their dominance up front to keep Italy out of the game.

With the Italians not willing to throwing the ball around either, few fans could say they enjoyed an entertaining game of Test rugby.

"I thought we played too conservatively at times today. We let a few tries fall by the wayside," said De Villiers shortly after the match in Cape Town.

"What I thought we did well in the weather today was to get behind the drives off the line-outs. We knew the Italians do that very well."

The Springboks can expect similar sort of weather conditions in New Zealand in the Tri-Nations so De Villiers wasn't unhappy to try out a "no frills" game plan.

"We'll take any sort of win, it doesn't matter what kind. All South Africans want is a winning team and so far we're keeping them happy," he said.

"I think today's game rounds the previous games against the Welsh off well. We didn't get the chance to play very conservative rugby against Wales

"Our scrumming was indifferent. Sometimes it was good at other times it wasn't. But we were playing against guys who come at you so we stood up well."

With June's incoming tours now a thing of the past, the Springbok coach now faces the tough task of selecting his squad to travel to New Zealand - starting with deciding on his fly-halves.

"If you look at the way our two halves played so differently today. I've got a great headache," De Villiers explained.

"You've got the individual brilliance of Francois Steyn, and then how Peter Grant came on and attacked the gainline. Then we've got Butch at home enjoying his family. It's going to be difficult ot leave one of them at home.

"Frans is a young guy, in Afrikaans we say he's a los bol (loose cannon). The way he scored that first try, things just came together. Then he went into his shell, I don't know why.

"If he kept on playing the way he can play, and makes things happen on the day, he'll live up to the standard we all expect of him.

"He kept us on the front foot with that huge boot of his. If you look at the conditions we'll have in New Zealand, there is a case for all three of [the fly-halves]. It'll be horses for courses."

Concerns have been raised in the local press that the Springbok wings are seeing very little of the ball, De Villiers feels however that conditions made it impossible for them to play an active role on Saturday.

"If we had thrown the ball around today all the journalists would have said we are stupid because we can't play conservative rugby in this Cape Town weather, with exclamation points behind every word," he joked.

"I fully support my captain and the decisions he takes on the field."

Three games into the new era, De Villiers couldn't be happier with the progress of his team. Speaking in Afrikaans, as has become the norm in Springbok press conferences in South Africa these days, he said that all the team needs now is the support of their fellow South Africans.

"If you look back in world rugby, after every World Cup the champions took a dip afterwards," he commented.

"This team hasn't gone down at all, this team has built on where they were.

"As a coach you'll always have areas were you'll want to improve. But then again you need to instill a kind of joy that any win brings to you. Last weekend at the end of the match the guys weren't very happy with the way they won the game.

"I say we should be happy with any win, and today they looked an bit better. They know there's room for improvement but if we can enjoy the moment, the improvement will definitely come.

"Let me tell you one thing today: We are a team with mission. We want to be the team of the people. What a lot of us have learnt is that you can't find luck somewhere. To take luck with you wherever you go. And we want to be gelikige (in Afrikaans "happy" and "lucky" can be the same word). We want to take it with us so that it can be spread to the whole of South Africa.

"All that this team needs is a country that believes in them. We're going to New Zealand with a very positive attitude. "

By Ross Hastie in Cape Town