The Bakkies Brotherhood

The one thing you know about Peter de Villiers is that he does not hide his head in the sand.

The Springbok coach as gone from stooge to sage in the two years he has been in charge of the Springbok team and, after a stagnant period in my touring days, I jumped at the opportunity to attend a media briefing by the colourful character from the Cape.

And I wasn’t disappointed. De Villiers took all the questions head-on, came up with some plausible answers, provided some telling insights, scattered a few of his quaint verbal “Divots” and even rebuked a reporter, in that typical Cape idiomatic way which is at once humorous and cutting, when he felt words were being put in his mouth.

De Villiers has certainly come a long way since those early edgy and suspicious Press conferences when he made one blunder after another – whether in his choice of outfit or by dispersing some of the oddball adages which the media came to hanker for.

He is a man at ease with himself and well he should be. His record in charge of the Springboks – a series win over the Lions, a convincing triumph in the Tri-Nations, three wins in a row (plus two in NZ) over the All Blacks and record defeats of the Wallabies and England – is as good or, arguably, better than any of his predecessors and he has weathered all the storms that broke around his head.

Feeling a little out of touch I had intended to merely observe proceedings and get a feel of things in the Springbok camp but soon the old reporting instincts took over and I found myself asking questions and being impressed and satisfied with “Div’s” answers.

I know of at least one SA Rugby official who murmured “oh no!” under his breath when I enquired whether the armband protest, for which the Boks were censured and fined (unfairly in my view), in support of Bakkies Botha had been put to bed but I felt De Villiers, in the manner and content of his reply, ran the ball back strongly.

“I have done many things,” replied De Villiers, “and been part of many organisations and this was the only time in my life that we had 100% buy-in. Every one of us knew we could stand by each other and that we would be there for each other. We mustn’t neglect (sic) the importance of that incident in pulling this team together.

“Whatever the price we had to pay, we know we can stand together. I suppose we should thank Bakkies for that,” he answered, smiling; taking the positives out of a situation that stills rankles within the team.

After a year in which the Springboks experienced many triumphs I thought my other question might engender some irritation because I have been aware, judging on media reports from afar, that he bristles at criticism.

Was he concerned, I enquired, that in all but one of he Boks’ nine Tests so far this season they faded in the last 20 minutes – the exception being the second Test against the British Lions at Loftus when they overcame Schalk Burger’s yellow card in the opening seconds to stage a come-from-behind victory that clinched the series.

Again De Villiers neatly fielded the ball at his ankles and put it into touch.

“I have always said that this team (the Springboks) is only at 75% of what it could be and isn’t it great to be able to say that when you see everything they have achieved.

“But we have taken note of that other 25%. I don’t believe it is a fitness thing. Perhaps it is just the way we bring up our children in South Africa (there he goes again!) but when a team is down we don’t put in the killer punch. It is something we have to overcome in our rugby, maybe the biggest challenge, to see how we can work on putting in the killer blow,” he said.

Inevitably – given that he has attracted the ire of those obsessed with race - he was asked questions about the quota system and merit selection and again he drew the man before sending out a neat pass.

“As a rugby player you want to be judged by your abilities and not your colour and the biggest thing is to be honest. There are players out there who are very talented and my job is to get the best out of them and not spoil whatever talent they have. I was appointed to do the best for my country and I think the hope that this winning team is bringing to the country is much more valuable,” says a man fond of using the phrase “to die for your country” and secure in his ability to do right by those who need his encouragement and guidance.

That he has taken to heart the lessons of the reality of Test match rugby and the potential it has to damage the development of those not ready for it is clear in his measured approach to the forthcoming tour to England, France and Ireland.

De Villiers has insisted on the addition of weekday games against Leicester and Saracens so that he can take along a big group (37 players) to enable him to “blood” young players in less challenging circumstances rather than “throw them in the deep end” in a Test match.

“There is one team going over, not two teams. Some will play for South Africa but won’t play in the Tests,” he explained. In other words the matches against the two English clubs will be like in the old days of touring when players ran out in the jersey but did not get caps.

“For the young guys it will be a novelty and an incredible opportunity to learn. A player like Andries Bekker, for instance, has picked up so much experience and grown so much as a player just from being associated with Victor Matfield.

“In terms of the Tests the job of the senior players will be to preserve our No1 world ranking so we will spare them the hassles of travelling to keep them fresh. For the others there will be no such thing; they love the novelty of touring and it will be opportunity for us to encourage a bunch of players whom we feel have the ability to make the step up and see how they react to the pressure of playing for their country.”

De Villiers, while lamenting the departure of Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn, sees their absence as a “massive chance for someone else.” “When we lost Os (Du Randt) and Percy (Montgomery) we wondered what we would do without them but then someone comes along. No-one is indispensable and now there’s a chance for one of these hungry youngsters to fill the vacancy and make the position his own,” he added.

It is also clear that De Villiers is not sitting on the laurels provided by an exceptional generation of Springboks. “Our frontline is not our problem,” he mused, “we have to look at our second- and third-stringers to be ready for any situation. Rugby won’t stop after 2011, it will go on and we have to identify the players who will keep us at the top when these players (the current Bok team) are gone.”

And for a man who likes to claim he doesn’t read newspapers De Villiers was ready with a pithy answer when asked what his reaction would be if his players, like Mickey Arthur’s cricketers, are not recognised in the forthcoming IRB awards. “They can do what they want but they can’t take away our No1 status or our trophies. We don’t need to go out and seek approval because we know what we have as a team.”

I left feeling a lot better about the future of Springbok rugby. “Div” may have made some mistakes and riled a good few when he arrived on the scene but clearly those hugs he gets from the players after Test matches are genuine and not for the camera and isn’t that good to know.