PDV to re-apply for job

SPRINGBOKS COACH Peter de Villiers has confirmed that he will re-apply for his job when his current contract expires at the end of next month.

After four years at the helm, the colourful coach feels he has “unfinished business” following South Africa’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit.

“Not winning the World Cup makes me feel like there is unfinished business, that the story isn't finished,” De Villiers told Supersport.

“So if they call for applications for the Springbok job I will definitely apply for it. Why not? I have enjoyed doing the job and it was a privilege for me to serve my country."

With the exception of 2009 season, when the Boks won a British Lions test series and swept the Tri Nations, De Villiers tenure with the team was largely uneventful.

Under his tutelage, the Boks enjoyed just a 62 percent winning record.

“I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but you learn from those mistakes, and I believe that I have learned sufficiently that if I was to get a chance to do it again, I wouldn't make those same mistakes again,” he says.

"I believe I have something to offer, but that would be up to SARU (South African Rugby Union) to decide. I am just saying I am available and will apply for the job if applications are asked for. I love serving my country.

“If I apply and my application is not accepted that is fine, I will accept what is good for South African rugby and move on. The next coach will have my full support.”

De Villiers caused confusion after South Africa's quarter-final loss to Australia at the World Cup, when he announced that he had come to the end of the road with the team.

However, when the Boks returned to South Africa, he said he had not resigned.

De Villiers cleared up the confusion he caused, saying comments made after the Australian loss was him admitting that it had been his final match in his contracted period.

“When I signed in 2008 I signed until the end of 2011, I always knew that, so it had to be the end of the road for me in terms of what I was contracted to do," he says.

“After December I am not Bok coach anymore. That is not a problem to me, that was always going to be the case.

“There were no more games for the Boks this year after the quarter-final, so as far as the public were concerned, the World Cup quarter-final was the end of my stint as Bok coach. That is what I was trying to say.”