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With South Africa 2-0 up against the British and Irish Lions, most South African fans should be pleased that the series of 1997 is now consigned to history. And while this author doesn't attest to knowing the feelings of all Springbok fans, there is a question that should be asked.
Do you feel the Springboks did themselves proud in winning those first two Test matches?
This author's answer is a resounding no. We may have won the series, but in doing so the fault lines and cracks in SA rugby have been glaringly exposed for all to see.
The main man behind it all is Peter de Villiers, the Springbok coach. When De Villiers was appointed over a year and a half ago, most SA fans, while surprised (to a point) that Heyneke Meyer had been passed over, decided to give the man from the Western Cape a chance.
A series win against Wales followed by a disappointing Tri-Nations left many supporters wondering whether the right choice had been made.
However, a successful end-of-year tour to Europe, ending in a resounding thrashing of England, at home, was enough to convince most that he was the right man for the job.
Fast forward six months and the picture has changed dramatically. De Villiers has been hauled over the coals by SARU because of his 'mechanic' comments when defending the selection of Ricky Januarie (who he subsequently dropped anyway).
He went further in disgracing the Springbok emblem after defending Schalk Burger's eye-gouge in the second Test. The fact that he used the race card in defending Januarie is incredibly disappointing considering how far SA has come in being unified in its ambitions.
And while this author is white, both black and white journalists were very critical of his behaviour, considering how naive and single-minded it was.
The fact that his comments almost condoned Burger's actions (he shouldn't have played anyway) is also a disgrace and embarrassment. It is known that De Villiers refused media training, and now the results are clear for all to see.
This author has defended De Villiers in the past, saying that with his first language being Afrikaans (though that can't be a certainty), he simply gets lost in translation.
Clearly, that idea is wrong considering the effort De Villiers has made to shame his country and its jersey. If you do some wider reading about how the rest of the world rugby community feels about De Villiers, clearly the man is doing South Africa no favors and he's making our rugby fraternity look like a bunch of mentally-inhibited thugs.
South African fans are passionate about the game and about the Springboks. When the team wins, people are happy. It is a simple formula, but what De Villiers has seemed to forget is that there is winning, and there is winning with grace.
His other comment suggesting that the Lions management hadn't congratulated him, Dick Muir, or Gary Gold for winning the series has since been refuted.
His tactical decisions nearly and should've cost South Africa at least one of the Test matches. If it weren't for Danie Rossouw being concussed by Brian O' Driscoll, SA should've rightly lost that match.
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