'We can beat the All Blacks'
2008-04-21 07:51
Cape Town - Don't choke on your boerewors but new Springbok coach Peter de Villiers believes his side can beat the All Blacks by playing like the All Blacks.
It seems the first black coach to be placed in charge of the Springboks is set to abandon the defensive mindset that Jake White used to give South Africa their second Rugby World Cup last year.
White maintained that when it came to the crunch of playing for a world title, defence would always triumph over attack.
He even goaded All Blacks coach Graham Henry with that line more than once in the lead-up to the 2007 tournament in France and came away beaming "I told you so" as New Zealand crashed out in the quarter-finals and the Boks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup.
But de Villiers clearly believes it is possible for the Springboks to remain on top of the world by playing a more rounded game than the structured approach favoured by White and seen as the traditional South Africa style.
Don't forget the Boks won both of their world titles without scoring a try in either the 1995 or 2007 finals.
Huge pressure
In a wide-ranging interview with the highly respected magazine SA Rugby, de Villiers suggests that is all about to change. He wants to bring some pizzazz to the Springboks with a fresh approach.
This season de Villiers' Springboks play the All Blacks in Wellington, Dunedin and Cape Town, placing huge pressure on his theories.
Adding to that pressure is the man himself. De Villiers admits to being a very bad loser. Call him naive but he has set himself the ultimate goal of an unbeaten debut season that starts with a home series against Warren Gatland's Six Nations champions, Wales.
"The Boks play 12 Tests this year and I want to win all 12. One loss in a season is one too many. Any defeat hurts me."
In the bigger picture some say that de Villiers can't win because he is following White's World Cup-winning act. De Villiers, as is his way, looks at it from the other angle and believes he can't lose.
"If we win all our games it shows we have built on the winning culture created by Jake. If we lose, it's because there have been a few changes and we are busy rebuilding. So I think I'm in a win-win situation," he told the magazine.
'You can be the co-pilot'
De Villiers has had a chequered coaching career and has never been in charge of a Super rugby franchise. He was an assistant at the Bulls in 2001 when they finished last in the Super 12.
"You don't have to be a pilot to fly from Cape Town to Durban; you can be the co-pilot too. You still get to your destination safely," he says.
He did spend three years coaching the Falcons in the Currie Cup but his greatest successes have been at age-group levels.
He led South Africa to third place at the 1999 world under-19 championships, repeated that result with the national under-21 side in 2004, won the world title the following year and finished second in 2006.
Last year de Villiers was a coaching consultant to a senior club team in the Western Province before he later guided the Emerging Springboks to win the IRB Nations Cup in Romania.
Now he's got the biggest job of all.
As for de Villiers' race or background playing a part in his selection thinking, apparently you can forget that. He believes quota systems do more harm than good.
"I don't see colour, I only see rugby players and I will choose the best possible Bok team. You will never, ever in your life again see an all-white team. And you will never see an all-black team either. Each race group has different skills that complement each other."
Resemble
And clearly he believes that racial mix can combine with a new game plan to produce a Springboks team with a refreshing approach.
They mightn't be all-black in colour but they might resemble the All Blacks.
When de Villiers won over the coaching committee that recommended his appointment he gave them "a couple of promises".
"I promised I would do everything in my power to ensure the Boks stay No 1 in the world, and I promised to take the game to the people," he told SA Rugby.
Keeping those promises will be tough but he believes they can be achieved by playing an expansive game.
"Structure in rugby came from Australia which doesn't have a lot of rugby talent," he reasons.
"I believe the more talent you have, the less structure there should be. We have a massive amount of talent in South Africa and I want to give them the freedom to express themselves. I want my players to be the best they can be on and off the field."
When asked if he realistically expects to beat the All Blacks at their own game, de Villiers doesn't back down.
"You'll get your answer in July. I believe we can beat the All Blacks with an expansive approach.
"We just need to have a positive mindset. If we can be successful with a negative mindset - as has often been the case in the past - imagine what we could achieve with a positive one."
White enjoyed considerable success over Henry's teams in South Africa, winning three of five encounters. But he never beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, losing all four tests here in his four years in charge.
Can the Boks beat the All Blacks?
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