With their 26-0 win over Six Nations bottom-enders Italy at Newlands on Saturday, the Springboks have now achieved their third consecutive victory under new coach Peter de Villiers -- but we still are none the wiser about the much vaunted “revoluti...
Two recent newspaper headlines “Grant turns down R10 million” and “Springbok captain John Smit released for club duty”, provide plenty food for thought. They once again raise questions about the expediency or necessity of allowing foreign-bas...
Is Pieter de Villiers playing discordant musical chairs with Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn? Will these two players' amazing versatility and prodigious talent prove to be a curse?
I ask this because it was under Jake White that the curse first ca...
The Springboks’ 43-17 victory over Six Nations and Triple Crown champions Wales in Bloemfontein last Saturday is certainly reason to celebrate -- but to go into complete euphoria and claim that it ushered in a new era of a different brand of South ...
Poen de Villiers was a sports and news journalist for more than 30 years on daily publications including The Friend (Bloemfontein); Rand Daily Mail and The Citizen. This included 12 years as a sports journalist and sports editor at The Friend. He covered rugby, cricket, boxing, athletics and tennis. In 1976, he joined the now-defunct Rand Daily Mail as the rugby writer where, in addition to reporting on rugby events, he wrote a weekly column �In the Ruck with Poen de Villiers�.
After retiring, he revived this column for an online publication �Sports Gazette� � a labour of love brought out monthly (when possible) with photographer Wessel Oosthuizen (now also retired).
