Up close and personal with Peter de Villiers
Peter de Villiers: Lionheart
Having enjoyed a winning start to his term as the new South Africa coach, the honeymoon period is over for Peter de Villiers as he now turns his attention to the Tri-Nations and the challenge of facing New Zealand and Australia away from home.
At the time of going to press, the Springboks are bracing themselves for the opening Tri-Nations showdown against their All Black counterparts, ready to uphold their world champion status and end a ten-year drought on New Zealand soil.
The last Springbok team to do so was in 1998 under the guidance of Nick Mallett, the leadership of Gary Teichmann and a try by Pieter Rossouw to win it 13-3 at Wellington's Athletic Park.
A decade on and South Africa visit the same city where they tasted that famous victory, albeit a different location (Westpac Stadium), though a few things have changed since then.
A new coach, a new captain and a new game-breaker will descend on the New Zealand capital with one thing in common with the class of 1998 - both wore, and will wear, the green and gold as world champions.
For De Villiers, Saturday's opening Tri-Nations match will really test his character as Bok coach on tour and how he can handle the pressures of losing if the All Blacks and Wallabies get their way.
So far, it's a three-nil start for the 51-year-old coach, but New Zealand - who they will face again in Dunedin a week later - will pose a much stiffer challenge for De Villiers than Wales and Italy.
Australia too, now under the guidance of former Crusaders coach Robbie Deans, will be difficult opponents in Perth on July 19.
Before South Africa took off on their Australasian mission to try and bring the Tri-Nations trophy home and place it alongside their Webb Ellis Cup inside the rugby headquarters, Planet Rugby caught up with the man in charge of making it all happen in an exclusive interview.
Appointed under a shroud of controversy in January this year, De Villiers took over the Springbok hotseat from resigned World Cup-winning coach Jake White to make the historic breakthrough as the first black Head Coach in South Africa's history.
He squeezed into the job by one vote after a selection process which was stained by whispers of shady dealings - and threats and outrageous slurs against him. Even the players (77 per cent of them, anyway) wanted Heyneke Meyer, coach of last year's champion Super 14 side, the Bulls.
De Villiers has a coaching record that is as good as that presented by White when he took over as Springboks coach in 2004. Both men had won IRB tournaments with South Africa U21 sides. De Villiers, too, has been groomed by SARU with various other coaching jobs, including the Falcons in the Currie Cup and winning the Nations Cup with the Emerging Springboks in 2007.
The rugby-mad country didn't know what to expect from its first black Springbok coach, but so far, De Villiers has produced the winning results and silenced unnecessary panicking from the media and demanding public by selecting a squad that is not only competitive, but also one that was - minus a player or two - selected entirely on merit.
At the same time, ten players of colour have made it into the mix and the majority of the World Cup-winning squad has also been retained.
De Villiers is a small man in stature but has a personality that can fill any rugby stadium packed with a personality to boot. I was to find this out the hard way after introducing myself to the new Bok coach for the first time at the team's base in Cape Town, surrounded by journalists the world over.
PR: Mr De Villiers, Planet Rugby is pleased to make your acquaintance.
A smiling De Villiers, replying back in his first language of Afrikaans and ending with an English sentence that is muffled by his massive mustache, leaves me wide-eyed and confused. Panicking, I laugh nervously in the hope that we can crack on in English...
But De Villiers' smile fades, his eyes sharpen and the man looking up towards me doesn't seem that small anymore.
PdV: [Shouting] Are you mocking my religion?!
PR: [Stunned] Um, not at all. Sorry if I offended you.
After a horrible silence around the room and a death stare from the most powerful man in South African rugby, I wait in vain for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. Instead, I'm greeted with a big bear hug.
PdV: I'm only messing with you! And please, call me Peter.
If this was an attempt to break the ice, De Villiers succeeded - I still don't know what he said, but somehow I get the feeling he knew that. So with the practical jokes out of the way and a sense of calm in the air, we get the ball rolling.
PR: So congrats on the new position, Peter. Being a Bok coach doesn't really carry a long shelf life though. Are you ever intimidated by one of the toughest jobs in sport now that you're in charge?
PdV: No, because of my strong character. That is because of all the hardship in my life I already went through. I am the kind of guy who has been built up by circumstances. There were times when I thought I wasn't part of rugby any more. I felt people didn't want me, people had forgotten about me. Despite my record, people weren't interested in me. The colour of my skin caused some bad moments in my life but also good moments too. The truth is, I would never be where I am now but for the colour of my skin. But the pressure doesn't concern me. I had the same pressure with the Under-21s. I know this is the Boks and it is more intense at this level because you have a nation to satisfy. I try to be the best I can and sometimes maybe I put too much pressure on myself. But that's me.
PR: It must have been a daunting prospect taking over from Jake White as coach of the world champions. Big shoes to fill perhaps under the whole voting saga that got you here in the first place?
PdV: Jake who? [Laughs.] In life, there's a time to come and a time to go and we just build on from what's there. We are grateful for what he [White] did and what he was paid to do, and I definitely don't feel under any sort of pressure. I know some people didn't want me for the job. But then I thought, if they want me to be ten times better than I am, I have to be that. And I was determined that I would be because I have got this dream, I am going to live the dream and fulfil it.
PR: Your new approach that the Springboks expand their game from the cautious, tight approach that was seen at the World Cup, has been met with mixed reviews. How much better can the Boks actually be if they adopt this new method?
PdV: Let's be clear, they are all very good players but they are not the best they can be at the moment. This is what we are trying to do, to improve them. But they have to change their mindset. They are talented people but they definitely have to take more responsibility. In percentage terms, I believe we can get another 40 per cent out of these guys. What they must strive for is improving their own game and integrating that into the team. For a player is only as good as his team-mate. We don't expect the players to move mountains but we won't allow mediocrity. We will push them very very hard to get there, to that extra 40 per cent. But add that amount to what they already have and you can see the potential of these players and this squad. If they are able to do these new things, then this will be a side that will really go places. But this could take up to six months.
PR: Six months? So are you trying to tell me that you not exactly where you want to be heading into the Tri-Nations? That must be a worrying thought for the die-hard fans out there.
PdV: No, in actual fact I didn't expect the team to grow so quickly to be honest. The spirit is high and there's nothing that builds team spirit than winning games. So I didn't expect us to be where we are now, but it's great to know we are there. But I like this challenge and I want to be among the best in the world. I am not scared by that. The players have to be the same. They must have the same hunger to achieve and they have to perform. If they do that to the full extent of their capabilities, then we will be unstoppable.
PR: Ok, so you saying the Springboks need time to gel but are on the right track and that the South Africa public can sleep better at night now?
PdV: I think so, I really do. I believe in everything we represent. I believe in the players, I believe in myself, I believe in my god and I think together we are a formidable team. I will be hard on myself that we do our best. I am a very competitive person, I can't play a card game and not be competitive. There is nothing friendly about what I do.
PR: When Wales were in South Africa for their two-Test series, you were quick to compliment Warren Gatland, saying you believed him to be the best coach in the world at the time. Now that you've beaten Gatland's Wales, a new challenge arises against more Kiwi coaches in the form of Graham Henry and Robbie Deans. Got anything special to say about them?
PdV: Of course my praise doesn't end with Gatland. It starts with New Zealand and will always end there. New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand! Their coaches really know their rugby. They know where they want to be and they know where they are at. So from going towards one New Zealand coach to another... and another... is actually great. But remember, it's not about me, it's all about the players. If there weren't any players, then we - the coaches - wouldn't even be here.
PR: The first words Jake White said to skipper John Smit when he took over as Bok coach was that South Africa are going to win the World Cup. What were your wise words to the World Cup-winning captain?
PdV: My first words to John was that we were going to take it every day at a time. We going to make the most of it, we going to enjoy our lives and be role models for the people of South Africa.
With a dozen more questions still to bestow on South Africa's practical joker, De Villiers cuts our conversation short with a handshake - not a hug this time - saying it "was a pleasure" talking to us, and rushed off in a hurry to join his team management waiting patiently for him.
Perhaps we'll get another chance in the future to really get inside the coach's head, but we can acknowledge one quality within Peter de Villiers before his Springboks get stuck into New Zealand and Australia at the Tri-Nations. That is courage - De Villiers has bucketloads of it, and he has needed it to get this far.
By Dave Morris