Peter deVilliers at it again

theKramer

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/peter-bills/peter-bills-de-villiers-admits-to-making-the-wrong-decision-in-signing-up-for-munster-2211165.html

JEAN de Villiers admitted that he made the "wrong decision" in joining Munster, South Africa's coach Peter de Villiers claimed yesterday.Irish rugby supporters, especially those in the south of the country, may well feel a lingering distaste for the surprise revelation by the Springboks coach. Quite why he needed to drag up an issue that's now in the past -- with pretty unpleasant consequences for those at Munster -- remains a mystery.
But then, Peter de Villiers has never been known as a master of diplomacy.
What De Villiers said was derogatory and needless. Speaking of his namesake Jean, who spent last winter with Munster, the coach claimed: "He called me soon after he arrived there and said he had made the wrong decision."
Well, now all Munster knows. The world-class centre, in whom the province invested God knows how much for a single season with the province, thought he'd picked the wrong pony from the off.
But this leads inexorably to a whole raft of subsequent questions. Did Jean de Villiers communicate this view to Munster coach Tony McGahan and his fellow players, or did he keep silent? Was he silently looking down his nose at the Munster set-up?
Did this verdict -- arrived at, according to Peter de Villiers, early in his stay -- affect the player's attitude? After all, he was left out of the Heineken Cup clash with Perpignan because he wasn't cutting the mustard. Does this revelation explain his desperately ordinary form in the early months in the red jersey?
Did Jean de Villiers change his mind at all during the course of the season? Or did he just shut up, take the money and then head home?
Munster are surely entitled to answers to those questions, besides pondering the whole validity and merit of importing more top-rank overseas stars. Are they going to draw the same conclusion soon after their arrival and plot their escape at the earliest moment?
Peter de Villiers might not understand such a philosophy, but his words will leave a sour taste in many mouths around Thomond Park and will inevitably cloud people's judgment of Jean de Villiers, as both a player and a person.
The brilliant centre certainly won't thank the Springboks coach for landing him in this particular controversy. The point Peter de Villiers was so clumsily attempting to make was that, in his view, southern hemisphere players plying their trade north of the equator quickly lose the speed, intensity and lustre of those still involved in a tournament like the Super 14.

It seems a bit strange to me. In every interview he gave he seemed to indicated that he was enjoying him time here. I cant think of him being two-faced to lie like that.
Im sure that initially he must have concerned, given that he was parachuted into the Munster-Leinster game, but I would hope that this is more of Peter deVilliers acting the eejit.
If JdeV ever wanted to go back to Munster, I think this has effectively put the kaibosh on that.....

chupacabra

I wouldn't bother listening to the ramblings of Peter De Villiers but if its true that Jean felt he made the wrong decision then fair enough just eh... can we have our 400k back please?

Foxtrol

Did you really expect him to say that he hated it in Munster and then tog out the next weekend in Thomond? Plenty of reason to tell a white lie or two to keep all parties happy. I think its part and parcel of the risk you take when signing mercenary type players, especially ones who only commit for a season.

Lurching

Id say the whole thing was taken out of context.
Jean may have just been a touch homesick or something at the start.

Peter de Villiers is a loudmouth kn0b. I wouldnt take it seriously at all.

Judgement Day

Peter de Villiers would be better keeping his mind on his own job instead of **** stirring. JDV is on record as saying that he would like to come back to Munster after the 2011 RWC is out of the way. I know who I believe! Also the chemistry between JDV and other Munster players always seemed good on the pitch.

Allez Les Bleus on Saturday!

d'Oracle

Anybody got a link to what PDV actually said?

Seems to be one hell of a lot of conclusions drawn here from two words of quote.

Also, note this is an opinion piece, which in Irish printed media generally means carte blanche to make stuff up and draw outrageous conclusions.

Judgement Day

More on Peter de Villiers predictions for the French game here: http://www.keo.co.za/2010/06/08/why-boks-will-beat-france/

Why Boks will beat France


The Springboks will beat France easily because their players are not up to international standard. At least that’s the view of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.

De Villiers said so after the Welsh Test win, even though he did not mention the French team by name or its players individually. It was the plan of attack De Villiers used in his continued fractured relationship with French-based Bok fullback Francois Steyn and in justifying his decision to release another French-based Springbok, Joe van Niekerk, for the Test against France and two against Italy.

De Villiers said Steyn was the best fullback in the world when he left South Africa for France, but that it no longer was the case. He said that if Steyn wanted to be the best again he needed to be playing Super rugby because he was no longer up to international standard. The same would apply for Van Niekerk, and De Villiers blamed it on where they play their rugby, which is in the French Top 14.

I don’t agree with De Villiers’s assessment of the Welsh Test because watching the Boks you would not have known which of the players played their rugby in France, Ireland or South Africa. The Boks, as a unit, took 30 minutes to settle, which was expected for a team that had assembled the week before and had experienced a couple of training sessions together.

But De Villiers made a point of his criticism for the two French-based players, and true to form he picked the week that the Boks would play the French to tell the world what he thought of the standard of rugby played in France.

Given this emphatic view it can then safely be assumed that the French on Saturday should not even bother pitching up because they will be wasting De Villiers’s time, and there certainly is no chance that any player can threaten dominance over his South African counterpart because not one among the French plays Super Rugby. They all play in that sub-standard Top 14 competiton that pays a lot of money and gives players a great lifestyle.

The message to Steyn and Van Niekerk was that it doesn’t matter how well they do in the Top 14 it counts for nothing because it is not Super Rugby.

It is therefore comforting that I can go to Newlands on Saturday to watch the best of the Super 14 smash the best of the Top 14.

Given the confidence of the Bok coach we shouldn’t be concerned that the crappy Top 14 produced the European Cup champions Toulouse and won the French the Six Nations. Nor should we worry about the French dominance against South Africa in the last decade when the Boks have won two of their last eight Tests against the Top 14 turds.

The last time the Boks played these second rate players they got smashed in Toulouse, but then it could be because the South Africans had just played Currie Cup rugby and not Super Rugby. They were also tired, fatigued and did not want to embarrass their hosts.

The last time the French played in South Africa they also smashed the Boks, at Newlands in 2006. That day the Boks were also tired, fatigued and as hosts did not want to embarrass the visitors. We like the French in South Africa and we have a connection with them we like, unlike the history shared with the English colonials.

Don’t be worried about France winning again against the Boks. It is all an illusion because how on earth can those who play Top 14 rugby beat our guys who play Super Rugby? The fact that they’ve done it five times out of eight, with one draw in the equation should not be a consideration because, to quote the Bok coach again, you have to be playing Super Rugby to be of international standard.

And to add to our comfort De Villiers will select his best team against a French ‘B’ team as only seven survive from the inferior side that beat the Boks in Toulouse.

Judgement Day

And a bit more here about why Top 14 French rugby is bad for Bok players.

http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyunion/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rugby/10/06/07/RUGBYU_South_Africa_Nightlead.html

shanagarry

The Indo must be really short on news if they can draft an article over a piece of hot air from PDV. Surely they must realise that the man spouts nonsense 90% of the time.

There was an excellent interview with JDV around Christmas in which he talks about being dropped and how that shake up was really good for him, and I would rather believe that. Does anyone have a link, I think it might have been in the Sunday Times?

Ciaran-Irl

Judgement Day wrote: »

More on Peter de Villiers predictions for the French game here: http://www.keo.co.za/2010/06/08/why-boks-will-beat-france/

Why Boks will beat France


The Springboks will beat France easily because their players are not up to international standard. At least that’s the view of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.

De Villiers said so after the Welsh Test win, even though he did not mention the French team by name or its players individually. It was the plan of attack De Villiers used in his continued fractured relationship with French-based Bok fullback Francois Steyn and in justifying his decision to release another French-based Springbok, Joe van Niekerk, for the Test against France and two against Italy.

De Villiers said Steyn was the best fullback in the world when he left South Africa for France, but that it no longer was the case. He said that if Steyn wanted to be the best again he needed to be playing Super rugby because he was no longer up to international standard. The same would apply for Van Niekerk, and De Villiers blamed it on where they play their rugby, which is in the French Top 14.

I don’t agree with De Villiers’s assessment of the Welsh Test because watching the Boks you would not have known which of the players played their rugby in France, Ireland or South Africa. The Boks, as a unit, took 30 minutes to settle, which was expected for a team that had assembled the week before and had experienced a couple of training sessions together.

But De Villiers made a point of his criticism for the two French-based players, and true to form he picked the week that the Boks would play the French to tell the world what he thought of the standard of rugby played in France.

Given this emphatic view it can then safely be assumed that the French on Saturday should not even bother pitching up because they will be wasting De Villiers’s time, and there certainly is no chance that any player can threaten dominance over his South African counterpart because not one among the French plays Super Rugby. They all play in that sub-standard Top 14 competiton that pays a lot of money and gives players a great lifestyle.

The message to Steyn and Van Niekerk was that it doesn’t matter how well they do in the Top 14 it counts for nothing because it is not Super Rugby.

It is therefore comforting that I can go to Newlands on Saturday to watch the best of the Super 14 smash the best of the Top 14.

Given the confidence of the Bok coach we shouldn’t be concerned that the crappy Top 14 produced the European Cup champions Toulouse and won the French the Six Nations. Nor should we worry about the French dominance against South Africa in the last decade when the Boks have won two of their last eight Tests against the Top 14 turds.

The last time the Boks played these second rate players they got smashed in Toulouse, but then it could be because the South Africans had just played Currie Cup rugby and not Super Rugby. They were also tired, fatigued and did not want to embarrass their hosts.

The last time the French played in South Africa they also smashed the Boks, at Newlands in 2006. That day the Boks were also tired, fatigued and as hosts did not want to embarrass the visitors. We like the French in South Africa and we have a connection with them we like, unlike the history shared with the English colonials.

Don’t be worried about France winning again against the Boks. It is all an illusion because how on earth can those who play Top 14 rugby beat our guys who play Super Rugby? The fact that they’ve done it five times out of eight, with one draw in the equation should not be a consideration because, to quote the Bok coach again, you have to be playing Super Rugby to be of international standard.

And to add to our comfort De Villiers will select his best team against a French ‘B’ team as only seven survive from the inferior side that beat the Boks in Toulouse.

You have to admit, he is a source of endless entertainment. What a spanner of a man PDV is.

pappyodaniel

Every time he opens his mouth I cringe. He is the polar opposite of our lad Kidney who can be interviewed for 10 minutes and not say anything of substance. He is definately a source of embarrassment and entertainment in equal measure.

Kiwi_knock

Just a scare tactic to make any SA player think twice about leaving for the Northern Hemisphere. They will offer you more money, but you will lose your playing ability and will not enjoy it at all. Not sure how effective it is but I say a few SA will ponder his statements about the standard of Northern hemisphere rugby when thinking about a move

BoarHunter

Well Steyn didn't have any holidays in almost 24 months .... that might be why he is starting to slow down.

sock puppet

BoarHunter wrote: »

Well Steyn didn't have any holidays in almost 24 months .... that might be why he is starting to slow down.

What position has he been playing in mostly this season for Racing? Might be a bit of an adjustment to go back to fullback if he's been playing centre all season.

Chucky the tree

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

Just a scare tactic to make any SA player think twice about leaving for the Northern Hemisphere. They will offer you more money, but you will lose your playing ability and will not enjoy it at all. Not sure how effective it is but I say a few SA will ponder his statements about the standard of Northern hemisphere rugby when thinking about a move

Pretty much this. The only thing that surprises me is that people actually get so wound up over what he says. I doubt even PDV believes must of the stuff he says, but he does it to get his message across and I think it works pretty well imo.

CatFromHue

he reminds me of terrence or phillip from terrance and phillip show on south park.

all he needs is the top of his head to come off when he is talking :-)

in saying that i was watching highlights if the second lions test last year and habana's try was very inteilligent. the move was planned knowing o driscoll would come out of the lion.

so while he says silly things he must have a rugby brain in their somewhere

buck65

He is a bit like Ger Loughnane, always stirring the pot and putting words in players mouths. Sure de Villiers had doubts as any pro moving hemispheres would and did take a couple of months to gel with Munster but he played well and gave his all every time.
His attitude was exemplary and regardless of his feelings always looked like he was enjoying his time on the pitch.
Wian du Preez returning to Munster probably is a better indicator of S Africans opinion on European rugby than what Pdv's inflamatory comments are.
I am sure Jean in time will speak for himself on this issue. Until then I certainly would give him the benefit of the doubt.

shanagarry

CatFromHue wrote: »

in saying that i was watching highlights if the second lions test last year and habana's try was very inteilligent. the move was planned knowing o driscoll would come out of the lion.

so while he says silly things he must have a rugby brain in their somewhere

BOD was concussed at that point. He was out of position because of not knowing where he was rather than intentionallly shooting up. So it was oppertunistic rather than a planned move.

That said, there are some excellent rugby brains in the SA set-up, but I wouldn't be counting PDV among them!

molloyjh

PDV said that at the start of his time in Munster Jean said he had made a mistake. Munster weren't performing at that stage and if I remember right JDV was slow to settle in. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he did feel like he made a mistake at the start but that turned around as the season went on....

Mini Driver

PDV is a mouth piece!!! I would love to see someone put him in his place one and for all always seems to adopt these Jose Mourinho type of mind games

Jemo

I can't wait until John Smit retires just to get his views on pdv. No doubt it will be interesting!