The Bok Coach and the Media

As published in my column, 'The Blog Roll' in the August edition of Sport Elizabeth.

“Rory! My man! How are you?” The phone had been passed to Peter de Villiers by his media manager, Rayaan Adriaanse. I had never before spoken to the Springbok coach, so I had no idea what to expect when I introduced myself. I needed to interview him in order to obtain a few sound bites for my afternoon sport reports on Algoa FM. The conversation continued with me apologising to de Villiers for bothering him so soon after a media briefing, to which he jovially replied, “It is a pleasure to chat to you, Rory. Please, take your time. I am your servant.”

What an absolute pleasure. De Villiers was in East London for the official announcement of the South Africa vs. Italy test match, which was subsequently held at the Buffalo City Stadium on 26 June 2010. The Boks thumped the Azzurri 55 – 11. After speaking to PDV for about 5 minutes or so, I could only like him. He comes across as a genuinely jovial and pleasant person. In fact, I cannot think of another coach in world rugby who I’d rather have at a braai, than ol’ Div himself.
I have been somewhat angered of late. No, let’s start that again. I have been infuriated lately with the abhorrent manner in which the media have handled our very own Springbok coach, Peter de Villiers. And, probably even more disappointed at the way the public has allowed itself to be so easily swayed by what I can only refer to as intentionally irresponsible and inexcusable ‘journalism’. I’ll come back to that in a minute.

Let’s begin with former Wallaby hooker, Brendan Cannon’s recent comments on Australian TV network, Fox Sports. I quote, “I can't believe that senior players like John Smit and Victor Matfield allow themselves to be controlled by this guy. He is a clown. He surely does not coach the team.” Firstly, what gives Cannon the right to refer to our national rugby coach as ‘this guy’? Brendan, ‘this guy’ happens to coach the team that won the Vodacom Trinations last year. ‘This guy’ also coached his team to a historic triumph over the British and Irish Lions in 2009. ‘This guy’ also has a Dunedin test victory under his belt. Lastly, although he was not there at the time, ‘this clown’ is the coach of the team that is currently in possession of the William Webb Ellis Trophy. Do you still remember that piece of silverware, Brendan? I do not agree in allowing myself to become bogged down in conversations with vacuous people who engage in polemics, so I’ll stop there. From what I’ve learned, I understand that pretty much their entire show was dedicated to insulting de Villiers. That is cowardly, inexcusable behaviour, and a simple public apology (while no doubt sniggering under your breath) is certainly not sufficient in my books. The damage is done – they have destroyed PDV’s credibility in Australia and the world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all up for a bit of pre-test match banter to spice up those rucks and mauls, but as far as I know, public defamation is a crime, and it should be dealt with as such.

Ok, let’s get back to those ‘journalists’ and their ‘interpretations’.
Remember when that journalist asked Jake White in 2004 about which of the Ireland players would make the Springbok team? And Jake White said, "None.” What else was he supposed to say? How would the relevant Springbok player(s) have felt if White named a few Irish players who would make his team? Come now, let’s not be silly.

Remember how the media intentionally misinterpreted that? All of a sudden, White had ostensibly said that no Irish player was good enough...blah blah blah.

On the same note, there is absolutely no connection whatsoever between, "Maybe it was the right thing for them (the All Blacks) to win,” and, "There is an international conspiracy underway here involving referees, rugby unions and sponsors." I mean, really now. When I read the initial report, I said exactly what PDV subsequently said about the hype in New Zealand ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I immediately thought, "Please tell me nobody is going to fall for the tricks of malicious and irresponsible ‘journalism – AGAIN."

The ‘journalists’ were cunning in their ‘misinterpretation’ this time. They could have opted for one of two routes: Firstly, that PDV is a terrible coach in that he says it’s a good thing for his team to lose. Or they could have chosen the far more elaborate route; let’s call it the Garden Route. They opted for the latter. Sadly, people fell for it.

Peter de Villiers actually speaks. He very seldom uses meaningless metaphors about drawing boards (how many coaches even understand that metaphor?), momentum, homework etc. The reason ol’ Div has ruffled so many feathers in the rugby fraternity is because he does not speak from the ‘script’. He does not subscribe to the ‘rules’ that govern every other coach in world rugby, preventing them from ever saying anything original or remotely creative. Whether this refusal is inadvertent or calculated, I cannot say.

You could take almost any one of Graham Henry's (for example) post match speeches, insert a different opposition name, and play it after every match his team plays. Have one recorded for a loss, and one for a win. It's the same rubbish over and over again. But, well done Graham, you obviously received the memo and you speak so beautifully from that script.

Whether or not de Villiers is a good rugby coach is not the issue here. Rugby fans will always have their opinions on that, which is good. But, regardless of his abilities as a coach, I think (intentionally) irresponsible and malicious journalism is disgusting; it needs to be exposed. I firmly believed PDV when he promised one thing: that he would do his very best as Springbok Head Coach. He does not deserve to be internationally ridiculed.

Some might say Div is out of his depth at press conferences. Some might say the ‘depth’ is determined by those silly little discursive 'games' we all ‘play’ on a day to day basis; games which very often essentially mean nothing anyway.

At the time of writing, SARU had instructed its lawyers to investigate the inconsistent refereeing and/or citing during the Springboks’ opening two games at the 2010 Vodacom Trinations. Let’s see what transpires.

PS: I’ll still have my braai with that man. One day.
PPS: I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to whoever wrote ‘The Blog Roll’ for me last month. Just one thing though, next time work harder on your predictions. Idiot.