Peter de Villiers took charge of the Springboks in January 2008 when he took over from Rugby World Cup winning coach Jake White.

Prior to become South Africa's first black coach he worked his way up through the Springbok ranks. Over a 10 year period he took charge of South Africa's Under 19, Under 21 and Emerging Springboks teams.

Having acted as an assistant to Springbok coach Nick Mallett in 1997, he began his international coaching in earnest a year late by taking South Africa to third place in the IRB Under 19 World Championships.

Another third-place finish followed on the world stage while in charge of the Under 21 side in 2004, before he led the same age-group to World Championship glory the very next season. He ended his association with the Under 21 side by helping them finish runners up at the 2006 World Championships.

In 2007, de Villiers took over as coach of the Emerging Springboks, guiding them to IRB Nations Cup glory in his single season in charge. It was from that position that he was promoted to his role as Head Coach of the Springboks.

Factfile

Date of birth: 03/06/1957
Lives: Paarl, South Africa
Coaching highlights: 2007 IRB Nations Cup winner with Emerging Springboks
2005 IRB World Cup Under 21 winner with Baby Boks
1997 Assistant Springbok coach
Interests: Spending time with family
Watching comedies
Listening to jazz music

Route to the top

A former scum-half who took part in the SARU trials in 1978, de Villiers began his coaching career while still playing with the Young Gardens club in 1981. He continued in a player-coach role until 1987, when he finally hung up his boots to concentrate solely on coaching.

Having moved on to Athlone Training College, de Villiers took his new side to successive Inter-College titles before coaching the Correctional Services in 1995. The 1996/97 season saw him gain promotion to the Super League 'A' with Tygerberg. Shortly afterwards he was chosen to coach the Western Province 'Disa's' team in the SARFU President's Shield competition.

In 1998, he was appointed assistant coach of the Western Province Vodacom Cup team, before going on to coach the Falcons in the 2002 and 2003 Currie Cup campaigns.

Did you know?

De Villiers obtained his Level 2 and Level 3 coaching courses in conjunction with the Welsh Rugby Union.