THE first black rugby coach appointed to take charge of the Springboks, Peter de Villiers, has insisted he will base all his selections purely on merit - despite the South African Rugby Football Union admitting the 50-year-old was not given the job on purely rugby grounds.
Choosing the successor to Jake White, who stepped down last month after four years in charge, was always going to be difficult and controversial in the volatile world of South African rugby politics but SARFU President Oregan Hoskins added fuel to the fire when explaining the appointment of de Villiers, who coached South Africa to victory in the Under-19 World Championship in 2005.
"I want to be honest with South Africa and say the appointment did not take into account only rugby reasons," Hoskins said. "We took into account the issue of transformation in rugby very, very seriously when we took the decision."
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I won't play favourites, vows new Boks coach
I won't play favourites, vows new Boks coach
