'I want to be boss'

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers says that he is close to finalising his deal with SA Rugby, if the organisation accede to his request to have the final say on team selection and give him performance clauses.

Speaking at the Vodacom Springbok Coach Breakfast at the Elangeni Holiday Inn, De Villiers spoke honestly about his situation with the mother body.

"We are close to finalising the contract," he said.

"The truth of the matter is I don't have a problem with selectors. They must be there to assist and guide me, but what I have stipulated to SA Rugby is that if there is a deadlock I as coach must have the final say."

"Also I'm a competitive person and as it stands I can coach to the 2011 World Cup and lose every game and still not get fired. I want performance clauses because I am competitive and need something to measure my success against.

"But, if I'm going to have performance clauses, then I have to be the one who has the final say on the team," De Villiers said.

The Springbok mentor then said that SA Rugby were close to appointing his assistants and at the present moment the two coaches approached were considering the terms of their contracts.

It appears that SA Rugby want to avoid the current wrangle they have with De Villiers, over the terms and conditions of his contract, and this time they want everything signed and sealed before they parade the assistant coaches to the media.

The men tipped for the job are Sharks coach Dick Muir and Central Cheetahs scrum doctor Dawie Theron.

Speaking about the upcoming Tests this year De Villiers said one of the biggest challenges was getting the Boks to adapt back to the old laws when they play their internationals against Wales and Italy.

"That is going to be a big challenge," De Villiers admitted.

"We have to work around the ELVs (Experimental Law Variations) in the first Tests against Wales and Italy and then get back to playing them in the Tri-Nations. It's going to be tricky because we don't want to confuse the forwards," he joked.

His positive comments were met by applause by MC Ian McIntosh, who was on the panel which introduced the changes.

"The new laws bring talented players back into the game. In the past we had coaches obsessed with size and especially what we did in South Africa was look for the biggest players and stick them in the gym to get bigger. We didn't coach them, but with the new laws we have to find talented players and then develop their conditioning."

"The new laws also allow for more rugby to be played. In the past you had people paying big bucks to watch rugby where only 12 minutes were played in the first half and 14 minutes in the second. But, now you have to play the full 80 minutes," he added.

"The new laws still allow for big players, because you need them to do the grunt work before bringing on the lighter, quicker guys to exploit the gaps."