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De Villiers` patience wearing thin

Thursday 21st August 2008

Pushing for more: Peter de Villiers

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers' patience is wearing thin with the under-performing experienced players in his side and has threatened to wield his selectoral axe if things don't turn around soon.

In the wake of South Africa's humiliating 19-0 loss to the All Blacks at Newlands last weekend, De Villiers has issued a warning to the older players in his team ahead of their crunch Tri-Nations clash with Australia on Saturday: shape up or ship out.

"The guys who have played well so far are mainly the younger players and not the old hands," De Villiers is quoted in The Times.

"I'm trying to get into the heads of the more experienced players."

"I'm going to make it clear that if I can't win matches with the experienced players in the team, I'd rather lose with inexperienced guys.

"If their sell-by dates have come and gone I'll have to act accordingly. We've had hard words and now we need to see if we can turn it around."

De Villiers did not go as far as to name the players in the firing line, but stalwarts Percy Montgomery and Butch James seem to be on thin ice.

On the back of last Saturday's performance, full-back Montgomery could be facing an uphill battle if he hopes to earn his 101st Springbok Cap with Conrad Jantjes looking rock-solid under the high ball.

James has failed to reproduce the form that saw him star at last year's World Cup and has himself hinted that if is unable return to his best level, his green and gold days might soon be over.

De Villiers' philosophy of moving away from a structured gameplan to a more expansive style is facing increasing criticism but he has vowed to stick to his plan to change the way South Africa plays.

With just one win in their last four games, the Springbok coach has laid some of the blame for the poor performances on his players' inability to adapt to his new tactics and has now begun to question the commitment of some senior players.

"We can turn it around, but what concerns me is that the guys are not able to keep their performances at a high level," said De Villiers.

"I'm asking myself, 'How do they keep the passion of playing for their country?'"