The Zimbabwe Rugby Union has appointed a selection committee to ‘assist’ coach Peter de Villiers.
According to KweseSports, the ZRU board met last Wednesday to review the Test team’s poor performance in this year’s Rugby Africa Gold Cup, where they lost three out their five games and only managed one win and a draw.
ZRU president Marlon Jani says the implementation of a selection committee is to help De Villiers.
‘We understand that Peter de Villiers is a foreign coach and he is still learning in terms of which players are available, in terms of commitment, in terms of ability,’ Jani said.
‘So we are going to beef up the selection committee, so that we have diverse views, we can challenge the coach and assist him in terms of the choices that are going into any team that will participate in the Gold Cup.’
Jani says contrary to media reports, De Villiers’ job was never in jeopardy.
‘We are going to see the coach serve out his term,’ he explained. ‘There was never a question from the union’s side about the issue of De Villiers as a coach. He is going to serve out his contract, but we are going to help him.
‘In terms of performance, yes, the board was concerned that we didn’t meet the targets that had been set, but they were also encouraged by the fact that in the last two games, the structure and confidence seemed to be coming back to the guys.’
Photo: www.chronicle.co.zw
