SARU plots 'way forward' for De Villiers
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:50
The aftermath: Divvy ponders how much worse it could have been. (c) Gallo
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has been given the 'full support' by his South African Rugby Union bosses, who said they will 'assist' him in getting the national team back on track.
De Villiers and met with senior Board members in Cape Town on Thursday, at the request of the Chairman of SARU's technical committee, James Stoffberg.
In a media release later on, SARU said the meeting was designed to "assist the leadership" in understanding where and how they could help the Bok coach.
They are hoping for "improved results" on the home leg of the Boks' Tri-Nations campaign, after the men in Green and Gold suffered three big losses in Australasia this month. The meeting also discussed "forward planning" for the World Cup in 2011.
Earlier in the week SA Rugby President Oregan Hoskins told rugby365.com that reviews of this nature were done regularly and any reports of a rift in the Bok set-up were purely speculation. (To see this earlier report CLICK HERE.)
SARU made it clear De Villiers had the backing of the national body, as he strives to turn the Springboks fortunes around during the home leg - which starts when the Boks meet the All Blacks in an historic Test in Soweto on August 21.
They also face the Wallabies in back-to-back internationals, in Pretoria and Bloemfontein, over the following two weekends.
"We had a very productive meeting and there are areas where Peter [de Villiers] will present us with his plans for the future and we will offer our support in realising them," Stoffberg said.
"He has our full support and we are confident that we can quickly be put back on track."
The statement from SARU did, however, confirm that a formal performance review of the Springbok coach would take place at a later date.
The meeting was also attended by SARU President Hoskins, Mark Alexander (Deputy President), SARU CEO Johan Prinsloo and Andy Marinos, the Manager of National teams.
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