Former Wallaby and Fox Sports presenter Brendan Cannon used the Wallabies 30-13 victory over the Springboks in Brisbane to show Peter de Villiers just what he really thinks of him.
In the week leading up to the test match at Suncorp Stadium, the Fox Sports commentary side were taking digs at Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, with Cannon saying, “I can’t believe that senior players like John Smit and Victor Matfield allow themselves to be controlled by this guy. He is a clown. He surely does not coach the team.”
The Boks decided that no Springbok player or member of management would speak to Fox until Cannon apologised on air.
Of course Cannon was always going to apologise (whether he meant it or not) for the sake of Fox Sports’ coverage and interviewing the Springbok side.
“I hereby wish to publicly apologise to Bok coach Peter de Villiers for comments I made about him on The Rugby Club TV programme on Wednesday evening. I am sorry if I offended him,” said Cannon on Fox Sports on Friday 23rd July.
Peter de Villiers at the Springbok press conference
However after the Wallabies thrashed the Springboks 30-13, Brandan Cannon made his way down to the Springbok post-match press conference (he did not attend the Wallaby press conference) representing Fox Sports.
He started off the questions, directed only at Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, and not the captain John Smit as he clearly had an agenda.
He asked a stressed and subdued Peter de Villiers, “Are you the right man to take the Springboks into the nest Rugby World Cup?” Cannon was clearly having a go at de Villiers, implying that he thought the Springbok coach was not the right man.
de Villiers could only reply with “You’ll have to ask my employers.”
It was an interesting set of events. Cannon was well within his rights to do so, but I don’t believe he acted with good sportsmanship, although de Villiers has not helped matters by seeking an apology for a comment that simply stated Cannon’s views. As a Springbok coach, criticism comes with the territory and de Villiers neds to be thicker skinned with those of opinions.
I just hope de Villiers will end up with the last laugh at the completion of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but for now, Brandan Cannon is probably feeling pretty smug!
July 28th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Dear Sanjay
Mate I am so bitter about the Springboks performance and couldn’t have said it in a better objective way than you have. Making changes will be a start, a good start, but I believe the problems are a bit more deeply rooted. For many reasons I believe that a change is due in the captaincy and coaching. The Boks didn’t appear to have had any plan, any discipline nor the ability to adapt to the game in any of the past three games. The Boks needs a captain that is capable of making changes on the field and that is communicating with his team. I believe Victor Matfield will be my choice as new captain. As for De Villiers – come on mate it is clear that he isn’t capable of coaching at this level. I support Brendan Cannon in that he is a clown.
Cheers
Deon
July 28th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Hi Deon,
I agree about Smit, but also I don’t think the Springboks problems will last forever. Div has a chance to learn and grow from this, in much the same way Jake White did in 2006.
This could be a blessing in disguise for the Boks, and whilst I don’t see it getting better quickly, it should make us better and smarter.
Whilst Div is a bit of a clown, he is only saying what the whole team is thinking at the moment with regards to the refs.
Sanjay
July 30th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/TriNations/Misconduct-charge-against-Div-20100729