South African rugby coach Peter De Villiers has landed himself in hot water yet again after comments made regarding Bees Roux, who was arrested on suspicion of murder last week.
Reports in South Africa claim that De Villiers is facing the sack after claiming that the Springbok squad were fully supportive of the Blue Bulls player.
At a press conference in Bloemfontein on Monday, De Villiers said: “We definitely talked about Bees in a team context.
“We feel for all South Africans, and especially rugby players, because a situation like this can happen to anybody. It is a tragic situation and we wish it on nobody.
“The team supports him 100 per cent, not on the deed but rather on the circumstances that led to the situation developing.”
Roux, 28 was arrested in Pretoria last week and was charged with beating a black police officer to death.
Senior rugby and government officials are said to be incensed with De Villiers’ comments, but South African Rugby Union (SARU) officials are declining to comment on the matter until after South Africa’s Tri-Nations clash with Australia on Saturday.
But the rugby body’s president Oregan Hoskins told the Cape Argus newspaper: “We will definitely look at his statements after Saturday.
“I don’t want to call it disciplinary action – it may not be. Instead, it will be an assessment.”
It is not the first time that De Villiers, the first black coach of the South Africa rugby team, has talked his way into trouble. Only last month, he escaped punishment at a SANZAR (South Africa New Zealand Australia Rugby) disciplinary hearing after suggesting that the New Zealand rugby team were receiving preferential treatment from referees ahead of the World Cup next year.
Previously, he appeared to condone eye gouging following an incident involving Schalk Burger and Luke Fitzgerald during the Lions Tour of South Africa last year, while in 2008, he responded to criticism by asking if rugby should be given back to the whites in South Africa.
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