Tri-Nations: Peter de Villiers was named as the first black coach of world champions South Africa yesterday. The 50-year-old South Africa under-21 coach succeeds Jake White, who guided the Springboks to victory in the World Cup final against England in Paris in October.
"Peter has created history today by becoming the first black person to coach the Springboks," SARU president Regan Hoskins told a media conference. "He is a strong leader and a coach with a proven track record. We trust the rugby fraternity will support him and the team . . ."
De Villiers follows White's route to the job by also leading the under-21s to the IRB title in 2005. He was chosen from a shortlist of four candidates that included 1995 World Cup winner Chester Williams, Springbok backline coach Allister Coetzee and Bulls Super 14 coach Heyneke Meyer. Meyer was the favourite for the job among players, receiving 77 per cent of a vote among 258 members of the SA Rugby Players' Association.
However, De Villiers's promise as a coach who could increase the speed of transformation of a largely white team weighed just as strongly in his favour with SARU, said Hoskins. "I want to be honest with South Africa and say that the appointment was not entirely made for rugby reasons," said Hoskins. "We as an organisation have made the appointment and taken into account the issue of transformation very very seriously when we made it."
De Villiers said: "I am very privileged to be in this position of taking over a great squad but this is where the hard work begins. To make wholesale changes would be stupid."
De Villiers's first Test match in charge is against Wales in Bloemfontein on June 7th.
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