News

Bosses back Bok coach

August 22 2008

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and his management team have been given a vote of confidence by the SA Rugby powers that be ahead of Saturday's crunch Tri-Nations battle with Australia in Durban.

South African Rugby bosses say that they will not be making any rash decisions based on this weekend's result, with SARU president Oregan Hoskins stating that he is 100 per cent behind the Springboks, regardless of the score at ABSA Stadium.

Hoskins stopped short of saying he was happy with the Springboks' dismal performance against the All Blacks in Cape Town last weekend but explained that hiccups in the past have taught him not to vent his anger in a counter-productive way.

"This is an important and pertinent matter," Hoskins told Afrikaans daily Beeld.

"I told the players: You know you are professionals, you know you have disappointed yourself and that you have disappointed many other people. I told them they knew what they had to do."

Two previous occasions when Hoskins spoke his mind have taught him their is a time and place for everything.

"To me, the 49-0 defeat against the Wallabies in Brisbane and the one at Lansdowne Road against Ireland (both in 2006) when Bryan Habana was selected at outside centre were hard to swallow," Hoskins recalled.

"It was terrible to watch. In Brisbane, the dressing room felt like a mortuary after the match. I had a lot to say after those matches. I issued threats and I spoke bluntly to the players and the coaches,"

"But I learnt from those experiences. The last thing that players want when they have their backs to the wall is for an administrator to admonish them. I'm not going to do it now.

"To admonish the players and the coach won't immediately fix things, anyway. The players want to see that you really support them. They know when you are sincere."

Hoskins said he had already spoken to Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and team manager Andy Marinos.

"I met with the coach and the manager the day before the Test at Newlands to ask whether SA Rugby could help. I wanted to know what their challenges were and whether we could be of assistance," said Hoskins.

"I also wanted to know about certain selections. It was actually a fact-finding mission. What I heard was extremely encouraging. The coach makes his own decisions."

Hoskins stated that De Villiers would have to file a report to SARU at the end of the Tri-Nations competition as Jake White had done in the past.

"This is nothing unusual, but we do not issue blank cheques to the coaches," he added.