Ex-Bok coach Div’s sex tape bombshell

By Yolandé Stander and John Harvey
CONTROVERSIAL former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has accused Southern Kings rugby boss Cheeky Watson and local ANC MP Cedric Frolick of being behind shock allegations that he had been filmed having sex in a parking lot in 2008 shortly after being appointed.

The accusations are made in De Villiers’s new book Politically Incorrect, released on Friday May 25. In the book, De Villiers claims he had been told the two were behind the sex tape smear which almost derailed his Bok coaching career before it had properly begun.

“The first time I heard about the so-called sex tape was the weekend of the Tri-Nations test against the All Blacks in Cape Town. Chris Hewitt, the South African Rugby Union (Saru) media manager who was later killed in a light aircraft crash, informed me about the existence of the tape. Apparently Cheeky Watson and Cedric Frolick were going to reveal a sex tape they had obtained of me in a compromising position with a woman in a car park during a trip to the Eastern Cape.

“By then Chris had informed me that Cedric, who as an ANC MP was involved with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, had told him he would rather have a white coach who would listen to him than a black coach who did his own thing.”

The sex tape allegations centre on an incident in April 2008 when the Bok coach was allegedly caught on tape having sex in a car with an unknown woman. Later that year Springbok communications manager Andy Colquhoun was quoted as saying Saru had found “no evidence of a plot and no evidence such a tape exists”.
Watson and Frolick both rubbished De Villiers’s claim on Friday. Watson told Weekend Post: “My only comment is: ‘Shame, I feel sorry for him.’ It’s completely unfounded.”
An equally incensed Frolick said: “As I said initially when the story [about the sex tape] broke in 2008, I do not know anything about it. I don’t get involved in people’s personal business.”
He was surprised this was even mentioned in the book, because De Villiers never raised the issue with him after the incident. “If he had a problem he could have spoken to me about it, but he never did.”
De Villiers’s book has already courted controversy in Eastern Cape rugby circles as it contains assertions about Watson’s son Luke and the fact that the Southern Kings should not be part of the Super Rugby competition next year.
Frolick said De Villiers’s disclosures were a “slap in the face” to the Eastern Cape rugby community.
De Villiers’s criticism of the Southern Kings being included in the tough Super Rugby competition next year also came as a shock to Frolick.
In the book, De Villiers says the Eastern Cape needs rugby to be developed, as 60% of all South Africa’s black players come from the region, but the Kings are not the answer. “If you want to introduce rugby, make every Super 15 team play a game there. If you want to develop talent, let it run its natural course, not by buying players from elsewhere. If they gave black players the chance, they would be the best they could be  …
“We don’t have enough players to justify it. Instead of creating a vehicle to develop and keep the best black rugby players in the country, we’re making a team for the seventh, eighth and ninth best white players who don’t have anything left to give.”
He says the Kings simply would not be competitive in Super Rugby.
Also tackled in the book is the issue of Luke Watson, the current EP Kings captain, and his controversial stint with the Springbok team. In a section of who would captain the team he details his decision not to make Luke skipper.
“Cheeky didn’t expect me to be so strong. Like most South African fathers, he couldn’t take a step back from his child’s sport. Luke is an outstanding player and captain, but he never lived up to my expectations.”

This is a shortened version of an article that first appeared in the print edition of Weekend Post on Saturday, May 26, 2012.

Urgent bid to return ‘big-time’ soccer to Bay

By George Byron 

MAJOR new plans have been announced in an urgent bid to bring “big-time” soccer back to Nelson Mandela Bay following the decision last week by Bay United’s owners to relocate their club.

An innovative strategy was announced on Friday by Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium managing director Stefan Pretorius.

“Our long-term aim is to get a top team to relocate to the city and play at the stadium and build up support.”

Although he would not divulge teams that had been approached, it is believed they rank among the bestknown names in the South African game.

“In the short term we will do everything possible to get as many big matches as possible to be played at the stadium,” Pretorius said. “It is very sad Bay United have decided to relocate and the first prize for soccer lovers would have been if they had stayed in the city.”

Pretorius said the stadium wanted two major anchor tenants and that rugby was one of them. “We want soccer to be the other and we are doing everything possible to make that happen.”

Soccer administrator Boya Chetty said he would back any moves to get big-time soccer back. “It is in the interests of the stadium to have major soccer played at their venue and I hope they have success in attracting a top team.

“Because of the way soccer is structured it will be very difficult to get back to the top flight via the route of promotion. We are right at the bottom of the ladder.

“There is tremendous potential for soccer to become a big drawcard in Port Elizabeth. I will back the management at the stadium to the hilt,” Chetty said.

Bay United general manager Lungsi Mooi said the reasons stated by the club’s Limpopo-based owners for relocating were based mainly on the “lack of support received from the metro”.

The location of the city in terms of travel from regions where “quality teams” were based was another factor.

No major soccer has been played at the stadium since last year’s Fifa World Cup and the stadium is now the home of the EP Kings rugby team who are bidding for promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division this season.

But while soccer fans are still reeling from the news that Umlilo are relocating, they can at least look forward to a clash between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at the stadium in July.

The “Soweto derby by the sea” forms part of the Vodacom Challenge and more than 30000 fans are expected. Stadium management will be keen to see whether soccer still enjoys the tremendous pulling power of previous years when Chiefs play Pirates.