With great power, comes great responsibility

sport365 columnist Robbie Fleck got a lot of feedback from our readers last week after his column on the appointment of new Bok coach Peter de Villiers. He continues in the same vein this week…

Well, it’s fair to say that last week’s column hit a nerve with some readers. I love receiving feedback, after all, everybody should be allowed to have their say, but it is also proves just how divided rugby fans in this country are over the appointment of Peter de Villiers.

It also shows how much you guys out there care and how passionate you are about the game in South Africa – transformation and whether or not the Boks win are very important in this country. Of that, there is no doubt.

There were plenty of positive remarks regarding De Villiers’ appointment from some readers, but, sadly, also some negative remarks. I can understand both sides; I, for one, prefer to look at the positives, but I can also understand and sympathise why there is so much anger amongst the readers and the general rugby-mad public out there.

All I can say is, De Villiers has been appointed – right now it’s irrelevant if he is the right man or not; what he needs is people getting behind him and backing him all the way. He is the man entrusted with taking Springbok rugby forward. End of.

We are the world champions; we have a new coach and now there is also talk of a new SA Rugby President, along with the usual power struggle that, sadly, seems to go hand-in-hand with a possible change in presidency…

But, this time the world is watching us, we are under the microscope – not only a rugby nation, but as a nation on the whole. This is far bigger than just rugby, and SARU and the Government need to realise this and take responsibility for it before it is too late.

Of course, De Villiers cannot afford to get involved in anything political or non rugby-related. The players can smell a rat from a mile away and if he has his strings pulled by people above him, De Villiers’s Bok coaching career will be over before it even has a chance to begin properly. As the country’s first non-white coach, De Villiers has an opportunity to silence the doomsayers and pave the way forward for any aspiring non-white coach in this country. But if he is too weak to avoid temptation, he will fail – like many coaches have before him.

Coaching-wise I have no doubt De Villiers will be a breath of fresh air in 2008 and beyond – as I wrote last week. But if De Villiers’ strings are being pulled and his hand forced by those above him, this will create the biggest controversy our game has ever seen.

Again, as I wrote last week, De Villiers needs the players on his side and the right management team backing him up.

He has already met up with John Smit, which is fantastic. John is the longest serving and arguably the most successful Springbok captain – certainly in the modern era – and by doing that, De Villiers might just already have earned some respect from the senior World Cup players.

John, however, also deserves plenty of praise for taking time out of his schedule to meet with De Villiers. John is currently recuperating from a knee injury in South Africa, yet he gave up some of his personal time and met up with De Villiers to map the way forward. It proves just how hungry John is to continue at the helm of the Boks, whilst it also sends out a strong message to his fellow players – let’s move on with life after Jake.

The meeting reportedly went well and hopefully some of the doom and the gloom that has suddenly engulfed our game will be lifted with this news.

I was hoping to meet up with John and Bob Skinstad for dinner in Cape Town afterwards, but unfortunately I could not make it. It is a pity though as I would have loved to have caught up with John to find out exactly what was discussed and what the future holds for him and the Springboks under De Villiers.

Until next week,
Robbie Fleck

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