Peter de Villiers

Peter de Villiers

Player information
birthday	June 3, 1957
place of birth	Paarl , South Africa
society
society	Career ended
position	Half of the crowd
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
	Griquas Boland Cavaliers
Coaching stations
Years	Association / Province / Franchise
1996–1997 1998 1998–1999 2002–2003 2004–2006 2007 2008–2011	Tygerberg Rugby Western Province U19 National Team South Africa Falcons U21 National Team South Africa Emerging Springboks South Africa

Peter de Villiers (born June 3, 1957 in Paarl ) is a former South African rugby union player and was the coach of the South African national team until 2011 .

Career

De Villiers played as a scrum half for the Griquas and the Boland Cavaliers during apartheid . Due to the color of his skin, it was not possible for him to play in the national team.

In 1996 he began his coaching career with the amateur club Tygerberg Rugby . In 1998 he became an assistant coach with the Western Province . At the same time he took over the post of head coach of the U19 national team, which he led to third place at the World Cup. In 2002 and 2003 he headed the Falcons in the Currie Cup .

In 2004 he was hired as the coach of the U21 national team of South Africa. He led the team to a third, a second and a first place in the world championships. Because of these successes, the South African Association hired him as the coach of the Emerging Springboks , the reserve of the national team. With this selection he won the Nations Cup .

After the title of "Springboks" at the 2007 World Cup , head coach Jake White resigned from his post, so a successor had to be found. The association chose de Villiers, who had not previously coached a Super 14 team or one of the major regional teams in South Africa. He became the first "black" coach in South Africa. This caused some controversy, as the association emphasized that the decision for de Villiers was also due to his skin color.

The first tournament under the leadership of de Villiers was the Tri Nations 2008 , which South Africa finished last. However, the November tour turned out to be a success as the team beat all British teams. In the summer of 2009 South Africa won the series against the British and Irish Lions with two wins and one loss. In the same year he won the Tri Nations with the national team .

During his brief tenure, de Villiers caused a lot of controversy. For example, after a defeat in South Africa, he assumed that the New Zealanders would cheat. During the Lions tour, he defended his player Schalk Burger , who was banned for eight weeks after reaching out to Lions player Luke Fitzgerald in the eye.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fred Bridgland: Black coach Peter De Villiers wins Springboks job as rugby bosses admit his color settled decision. The Times, January 10, 2008, accessed August 14, 2009 . 
2. ↑ Simon Austin: Burger 'gouge' angers Fitzgerald. BBC, June 27, 2009, accessed August 14, 2009 . 

Web links

• Profile at SARU