South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has been having sleepless nights as the events that followed the series-clinching second Test win over the British and Irish Lions take their toll.
All the headlines since the 28-25 victory in Pretoria have been dominated by Schalk Burger's eye-gouging and the subsequent comments by the Springbok boss in defence of his under-fire flanker.
"A lot was said this week, I think too much," he said. "The off-the-field stuff sometimes gives you more sleepless nights than the on-field stuff."
He added: "We had negative media from Britain in 1974 and 1980 and now I've allowed it again in 2009.
"I've learnt that if they can't win on the field then they will try to win anywhere else they can."
Burger, who received an eight-week ban for his actions, was one of 10 names excluded from the starting line-up for the final match in Johannesburg as De Villiers opted for wholesale changes.
Debutant Zane Kirchner, Odwa Ndungane, Jongi Nokwe, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier and Morne Steyn come into a backline which sees scrum-half Fourie du Preez as the only survivor from the last game.
There is also a new look among the forwards, where only captain John Smit, vice-captain Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira and Juan Smith remain from last Saturday's bruising 28-25 series-clinching win in Pretoria.
Alongside them will be Chiliboy Ralepelle, Johann Muller, Heinrich Brussow and Ryan Kankowski.
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What an idiot. Even after everything that's been said, he still isn't man enough to make an apology. Instead of apologising, he goes on the offensive and has a pop at the British. Absolutely no dignity.
No wonder he's having sleeploess nights (though I suspect he's not, and this is just a statement to try and get some pity). If the colour of his skin wasn't such a political issue in South Africa, he'd have been sacked.
If he were the Lions coach he'd be on the plane home...
The unfortunate aspect of the outburst ( as well as the tone - when does he ever not have a problem )is the retrospective apology , he should be told where to place the apology and learn respect for opposing players ..For a winning coach he is one of the most graceless managers to partake in Rugby Union , and at times you can see that flow through to his players , look at Burgers complete lack of an apology to the player he " fouled " he apologises to his fellow team mates but not the person who was at the end of his hand accident or by design - like his coach graceless - they can have each other -
Ads A: I think we all agree about the quality of DDV as a coach. The man is an embarrassment. I feel sorry for the players (and us supporters too) who are tainted by his foolery.
There have been rumblings in SA ever since Jake White's distasteful ousting, so PDV's recent outbursts sadly come as no surprise. He is naive, underqualified and hopelessly out of his depth. His appointment to SA coach was a misguided political experiment by SARFU who were pressurised by higher powers. It does the organisation no favours, and the South African Players Union should step up quicktime.
I think that the Boks' success despite him is even more remarkable. I agree that Muir and Smit are the brains of the outfit.
Naturally as a Bok supporter I hope he gets canned.
Who knows, maybe we can get Eddie Jones again :)
"I've learnt that if they can't win on the field then they will try to win anywhere else they can."
Ever the diplomat, devilliers steps in and calms things down. This lad really ought to learn to shut his mouth. Otherwise he'll get sacked and SA will get a real manager. That would be a tragedy for the rest of us heading into the WC, because a south africa with peter at the helm is a weaker outfit.
I get the feeling theres a touch of the Brian ashtons going on there. I dont think hes really in charge at all(john smit seemed to dictate the late reintroductions in the first test).
IMO hes a puppet manager, and like lots of puppets he's highly entertaining. South Africa really ought to sack him, but I hope they dont.
Whatever happenned to the civility and cameraderie of Rugby Union. It is what set us apart from all other sports. Hard, physical contact on the field but mutual respect and comradeship off the field, with no recriminations whatsoever. In over 500 games of senior rugby I witnessed only two off the field acts that would be regarded as unacceptable behaviour. But, nowadays the games are increasingly being watched by people who have never actually played the game and experienced that unique on field/off field experience and those people show no respect to the game and its traditions. How long before supporters start to fight with each other. We are on the precipice of a dangerous slope and we must all pull together to make sure we do not start the irreversable slide into the abyss. Rugby officials have a responsibility to encourage players, fans and particularly coaches to set an example of very high propotion.
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