British and Irish Lions

After Brad Thorn's infamous tackle on Springbok skipper John Smit and Peter de Villiers' criticisms of the All Blacks' scrummaging techniques, South African Rugby Union chairman Mpumelelo Tshume has demanded an apology from former New Zealand prop Craig Dowd after the North Harbour development manager described de Villiers as a 'puppet'.

De Villiers became the Springboks' first non-white head coach when he took over from Jake White at the beginning of 2008, with SARU president Oregan Hoskins admitting that de Villiers had not been given the position for 'purely rugby reasons'.

"SA Rugby has noted with shock and disgust comments made by former All Black Craig Dowd in which he described Peter de Villiers, the Springbok coach, as a "puppet", among other things," said Tshume.

"Mr Dowd's comments are not only deeply and personally offensive to Peter de Villiers and SARU but also comically ill-informed on the affairs of South African rugby.

"We trust he will show rather better judgement in having the good grace to apologise to Peter de Villiers and to the South African rugby community for the profound offence and hurt he has caused."

Lions skipper Sam Warburton says the lessons he and his Welsh colleagues learnt in Australia last summer will stand them in good stead for their return visit with Britain and Ireland's elite next month.

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