Bok coach hauled in for Bees comment
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:31
Another public faux pas by Peter de Villiers. (c) Gallo
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will be 'called in' by his employers for another talking to about his public and media utterances.
However, De Villiers will not face any disciplinary hearing, at least not in the immediate future.
The latest outcry against the outspoken Bok coach came after he told a media gathering in Bloemfontein that the Springbok team was "100 percent" behind Blue Bulls prop Bees Roux, who faces murder charges after a metro police officer was killed in Pretoria last Friday.
Earlier reports suggested that De Villiers was expected to face a disciplinary hearing, because of his statement that the team was supporting Roux.
However, South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins told rugby365.com that there were no plans for a disciplinary hearing involving De Villiers.
Hoskins added that he would have a "heart-to-heart" with De Villiers about his statements in the media.
"We will talk after the Tri-Nations," Hoskins told rugby365.com.
The Bok coach's latest faux pas came on Monday, ahead of Roux's bail hearing in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court.
"People are ugly outside, they're dirty and they try and use everything to stop us bringing hope to the people out there," De Villiers told the media gathering.
"The team supports him 100 percent, maybe not on the deed, but rather on the circumstances that led to the situation developing," the Bok coach added.
De Villiers also said the team had talked about the Roux situation, even though the Blue Bulls prop was not a member of the Bok team and had never played for his country.
De Villiers's comments did not go down well outside the team structures and newspapers reported that De Villiers might face charges of bringing the game into disrepute.
This, along with his extended list of embarrassing public utterances, caused some members of the SARU hierarchy to call for De Villiers's head.
However, he is set to escape any formal hearing, although it won't be the first time that his bosses will call him in to discuss his public statements.
Last month, De Villiers also faced a disciplinary hearing - instigated by SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) - because of his suggestions that the All Blacks got preferential treatment from referees.
He also escaped censure on that occasion.
The Times newspaper quoted senior officials as saying they were not only unhappy with what he said regarding the Roux incident, but also over his previous comments.
"Imagine if [former Bok coach] André Markgraaff had made this comment about Roux? He'd have been dismissed before the weekend," the Times quoted a source as saying.
Markgraaff was sacked in 1997, after being secretly taped making racial comments.
By Jan de Koning