KEY POINTS:
New South Africa rugby coach Peter de Villiers says the Springboks can beat the All Blacks at their own game this season.
Talking about bringing a fresh approach to the Springboks game, de Villiers told the South African rugby magazine SA Rugby that he was planning an unbeaten
season and would select players on merit rather than racial lines.
The magazine said it seemed de Villers, the first black Springboks coach, was set to abandon the defensive mindset that Jake White used to give South Africa their second World Cup last year.
White maintained that when it came to the crunch of playing for a world title, defence would always triumph over attack.
"But de Villiers clearly believes it is possible for the Springboks to remain on top of the world by playing a more rounded game than the structured approach favoured by White and seen as the traditional South Africa style," the magazine said.
"Don't forget the Boks won both of their world titles without scoring a try in either the 1995 or 2007 finals.
"He (de Villiers) wants to bring some pizzazz to the Springboks with a fresh approach."
This season de Villiers' Springboks play the All Blacks in Wellington, Dunedin and Cape Town, placing huge pressure on his theories.
"Call him naive but he has set himself the ultimate goal of an unbeaten debut season that starts with a home series against Warren Gatland's Six Nations champions Wales," the magazine said.
"The Boks play 12 tests this year and I want to win all 12. One loss in a season is one too many. Any defeat hurts me." de Villiers said.
"If we win all our games it shows we have built on the winning culture created by Jake. If we lose, it's because there have been a few changes and we are busy rebuilding. So I think I'm in a win-win situation," he told the magazine.
De Villiers has had a chequered coaching career and has never been in charge of a Super rugby franchise. He was an assistant at the Bulls in 2001 when they finished last in the Super 12.
"You don't have to be a pilot to fly from Cape Town to Durban; you can be the co-pilot too. You still get to your destination safely," he says.
He did spend three years coaching the Falcons in the Currie Cup but his greatest successes have been at age-group levels.
He led South Africa to third place at the 1999 world under-19 championships, repeated that result with the national under-21 side in 2004, won the world title the following year and finished second in 2006.
Last year de Villiers was a coaching consultant to a senior club team in the Western Province before he later guided the Emerging Springboks to win the IRB Nations Cup in Romania.
De Villiers said he believed quota systems did more harm than good.
"I don't see colour, I only see rugby players and I will choose the best possible Boks team. You will never, ever in your life again see an all-white team. And you will never see an all-black team either. Each race group has different skills that complement each other."
Asked if he realistically expected to beat the All Blacks at their own game, de Villiers didn't back down.
"You'll get your answer in July. I believe we can beat the All Blacks with an expansive approach.
"We just need to have a positive mindset. If we can be successful with a negative mindset - as has often been the case in the past - imagine what we could achieve with a positive one."
White enjoyed considerable success over Henry's teams in South Africa, winning three of five encounters. But he never beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, losing all four tests here in his four years in charge.
- NZPA