Rugby: De Villiers told to think before he speaks

Flowery-speaking Springbok rugby coach Peter de Villiers has been told to stop making embarrassing statements to the media.

De Villiers landed himself in trouble during the Lions series when he used a black-white mechanic analogy with racial undertones to defend halfback Ricky Januarie's inclusion in the squad.

He went on to infuriate the Lions by defending the actions of rugged flanker Schalk Burger, who was banned for eight weeks for eye-gouging.

De Villiers was given a dressing-down when he met South African Rugby Union officials this week, local news media reported yesterday.

"The assessment committee advised Peter to refrain from statements involving the Bible and to generally be more careful about what he says," union president Oregan Hoskins told the Sunday Times.

"We explained where he could have used a different approach. One example was the statement about the mechanic when he tried to defend Ricky Januarie's selection.

"We made it clear the media wasn't there to fight with him and that they just report what they see and hear.

"We spent almost a day with Peter and had quite a productive meeting. I think he can put the exercise to good use."

The All Blacks arrived in Pretoria yesterday to prepare for the first of two Tri-Nations matches against South Africa on successive weekends.

The first is in Bloemfontein on Sunday morning (NZT), with the second in Durban a week later.

Skipper Richie McCaw, centre Conrad Smith and lock Isaac Ross were the only players nursing minor injuries after Saturday night's 22-16 win over Australia.

"We're not too bad really. Richie and Conrad have both got corked thighs - they should be okay," assistant coach Steve Hansen said. "We'll see how they are over the next couple of days but they should be right to play.

"Isaac has got a bit of a strained knee, so again we will see how he comes through the flight but at this stage he's looking like he will be available too. So we should have the whole complement of people."

The players are expected to spend time recovering from travel before training ramps up tomorrow.

Graham Henry will name the All Black side around midnight tomorrow while the Springboks are expected to release theirs earlier the same day.

- NZPA