New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said that his players will take responsibility for their actions, but will also give them the freedom to make their own decisions on the playing field.

That was the central theme at the first formal media conference by De Villiers, on the day that he came face-to-face with his chosen Springbok training squad.

The new Bok coach was all smiles and joked with the media at the team's base in Somerset West, near Cape Town, on Wednesday.

However, the Bok coach made it clear that he is starting a new era in Springbok rugby.

And that era will include a strong emphasis on "player power".

What makes you tick?

Before De Villiers will "empower" his players, he will first sit down with the players individually to get to know each one on a more personal level.

"Normally, if you understand the person, you'll get the best rugby that you can give for the team," De Villiers told the media gathering.

"So if I can find the person, I will know what makes him tick, I will know how he feels, and work with him as a rugby player from there."

According to De Villiers, there is scope for the players to make their own decisions on the field.

He alluded that the players would have much more freedom in terms of game plans, playing patterns and that the structures would be far less rigid than before.

"All the players that we have got here are world class players, I believe. They do have the potential to go all the way," he said.

"I want the players to express themselves, freely, on the field and I want them to make decisions on the field under any circumstances."

Code of conduct

The coach stressed that he did not want his squad to be forced to accept an irrelevant set of rules regarding their conduct, but that his first task would be to involve the players themselves in establishing some ground rules — a code of conduct that will be in place during his tenure.

"What we're doing now is to set our new ethos, and the way we're going to work for the next four years, what (the players) would like and they would dislike — write our own handbook.

"Once we've done that, I will know who the players are, because I like to work with the person, (rather than) the rugby player.

"You can call it a code, you can call it whatever you want to," De Villiers continued. "You must understand that the only reason that I am here, and the rest of my management team are here, is because of the players.

"It's easy for me to bring my lifelong experience to this team, and put down a set of rules that they have to adhere to.

"But I think it would be best for (the team) if they make an input — if we go from there, (we'll) have a collective version of what I would have normally done, and (we'll) work it from there."

Departing from tradition

De Villiers' attitude of player empowerment is a departure from the traditional idea of coaches enforcing a specific atmosphere, brand of rugby and playing style on their players.

It is debatable whether the mindset of the typical South African player is geared towards such an open-minded, laissez-faire approach.

But there is a counter argument that players have been cocooned and protected too much in the past.

De Villiers felt the maturity that comes with being the best players in the country will serve the Bok squad well. He believed that allowing the players to take on much more responsibility for their actions on and off the field, would bring the best out of them.

"I went to a few matric gatherings, and what I learned there is that from a young age, how people can lead, and how people want to take responsibility. But because we protect them so much, our people hide behind the fact that they can't take responsibility for what they are doing.

"From the onset now, we're going to give them all the time so that they can make their inputs. And at the end, they will take responsibility for what they say and what they do.

"I can say now 'I don't want anybody to come late, and the penalty will be R5000. If they say it, it's more (a case of) it comes from them. The team will then function better because they (the players) will feel co-responsible for the team," De Villiers explained.

"What I said to the players is that I want them to bring their individuality to the fore, and to be the best that they can be.

"Because of (the players) being the best that they can be, then we (the Springboks) can be ourselves.

"So yes, we're going to empower them, they will take responsibility, and I can guarantee you that will level the playing field too."

Following his own lead

The new coach was however careful not to be disparaging toward previous regimes, and said that he could only function as Springbok coach using his own instincts.

"I can't comment on that (previous coaches), because I wasn't part of the previous set-up," he said.

"Maybe they did (give the players more input into team affairs), and if they did, tomorrow's exercise will be so much easier, because they'll know how to do it.

"The only way I know, is the way that I do things in my life, and that's the way that I want this team to go forward."

De Villiers also revealed that his first meeting with the players related to the foundations of the relationship he wanted to build between the players and himself.

A fresh start for the Boks

It is clear that he wants to get the new Springbok era off to a fresh start, based on interaction, transparency and honesty within the entire squad.

"My message to (the players) is that there's one thing that they will understand this year, and that is that our whole thing will be built on trust, it will be built on openness, and after everything is in place we will be a team," said De Villiers.

"Sometimes you have to go two steps back in life to go ten (steps) forward, and that's exactly what we're going to do now. We're going to go that two steps back.

"What I also said to them is that (they should) be dropped because of rugby reasons, rather than anything else.

"So punctuality, dress-codes, and the fact that they have to be the best that they can be out there, behave themselves, be a mirror for the rest of the world to look at and say 'that is exactly how we want to be'.

"That is the kind of things that we were talking about in there. But I can't go too in depth, because then I will say what I want them to say.

"So for the (next) two days, we have certain rules and laws and regulations to govern us for now, and after Friday we will have new laws that will govern this team."

365