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WEEKEND Post chief photographer Mike Holmes took these pics at Saturday’s third test between the Springboks and England at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

De Villiers on coaching Kings

By John Harvey

FORMER Springbok coach Peter de Villiers continues to maintain that South Africa was “robbed” during its ill-fated World Cup quarterfinal against Australia at last year’s Rugby World Cup – and has again questioned whether the shocking defeat could have been determined by “outside factors”.
In a candid interview with Weekend Post this week,  following the controversial launch of his “tell-all” book Politically Incorrect last month, De Villiers said he would “definitely” consider coaching the Southern Kings if approached, despite believing  the franchise was far from ready for Super Rugby next year.
De Villiers is still scratching his head over New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence’s decisions in last year’s quarterfinal and questioned why no one in South African rugby circles ever took up sports science guru Professor Tim Noake’s  call to probe Lawrence’s performance.
In a letter to a Cape Town newspaper following the Boks’ exit from the tournament, De Villiers said rugby bosses  were being “too quiet” on this issue. “We are a leading rugby nation and we’ve been robbed out of competition [World Cup]. We have to wonder if there are people working  higher up.
On the issue of the Kings’ involvement in Super Rugby next year,  De Villiers suggested that, had Saru kept faith in the Southern Spears in 2005 – a team he coached – the franchise would have developed to Super Rugby level by now.
“When I was at the Spears the assignment was to develop rugby in the Eastern Cape, where the vast majority are black people. The difference between then and now is that almost eight years have passed and the team would have been developed for Super Rugby.
“Now the Kings are starting from scratch.”
Acknowledging that he had acquired something of a cult following in South Africa,  De Villiers said he hoped his term in charge of the Boks would have inspired others. “I did it my way and I got everyone involved, not just rugby-wise, but you, me, the team, the Eastern Cape, everyone.”

This is a shortened version of an article that appeared in the print edition of Weekend Post.

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.

Van Vuuren makes the grade for top French rugby club

Michael van Vuuren

By George Byron

A DREAM has come true for former Grey High schoolboy and current Free State rugby hooker Michael van Vuuren  who has signed a lucrative “big money” two-year contract  to play for the world-famous Stade Francais club.

The big-spending French outfit, who are known as the Manchester United of French rugby and regularly play in front of 80 000 fans at France’s national stadium Stade de France, have had their sights on Van Vuuren for some time. Van Vuuren, 20, who played for the EP Craven week team and the  Grey 1st XV in 2008 and 2009, made a name for himself while playing hooker for the Springbok  under-20 team at the IRB Junior World Championship.

The Port Elizabeth-born forward’s name was put forward to Stade Francais by the South African-born former French prop Pieter de Villiers who worked with Van Vuuren at Investec Academy last year.

“Pieter’s decision to put my name forward to Stade Francais played a big role in me receiving the offer from the club. My goal is to treat this as a  learning curve. I am still young and desperately keen to learn,” he said.

Asked why he had decided to move on, Van Vuuren said he felt the time had arrived for a new challenge. “I’m still young so now is probably the best time for me to go away for a few years and develop my game in key areas like scrum work and tight phases of play.” Van Vuuren says he has not turned his back on South Africa and still dreams of playing for the Boks.

This is a shortened version of an article that first appeared in the print edition of Weekend Post on Saturday April 28, 2012.