Peter de Villiers: Make or break for the enigma

The jury is still out on Peter de Villiers, the Springboks' first black coach, whose results have fluctuated from brilliant to bewildering. James Corrigan assesses a pioneer and his odd way with words

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Like all of Peter de Villiers' opponents – and believe it, there are more in his own backyard than anywhere else – Ian McGeechan will look at his counterpart and scratch his head. He has been described as "a riddle, framed with a moustache, and wrapped in green and gold tracksuit". Yet that does not begin to do this enigma justice.

To say the jury is still out on the first non-white Springboks coach is to simplify this most fascinating of South African trials to an absurd degree. The truth is that some in the country did not need any evidence to condemn the man and no submission will convince them otherwise. Fortunately, they appear to be in the minority. Most South Africans were willing to afford a chance to the successor of the World Cup winner Jake White. But here we are, 16 bizarre months later, during which the results have fluctuated as wildly as his popularity rating, and most still haven't a clue whether he has taken his chance or not. Could the Lions be De Villiers' make-or-break moment? Or will it be just another headshake moment?

Certainly the Rainbow Nation expects and nothing but victory – and emphatic victory at that – will be deemed satisfactory. De Villiers, of course, coated the anticipation in further expectation when saying in the week that "these Lions will never be legends in their own time". He then went on to announce that his own team "already are legends". What an odd thing to say, if only because of the inevitable comeback should the mortals prevail over the immortals. But there you are. Most of what De Villiers says happens to be odd. In different places his abstruse statements have been described as "refreshing", "embarrassing", "meaningful" and "meaningless". What nobody can deny is their entertainment value. They are set to light up the next five weeks whatever the outcome on the pitch. Tuesday's comments were but a mere taster of the verbal ratatouille to be swallowed.

Take this from the same press conference. When asked about the recent spate of South African injuries he replied: "It's like if somebody dies in a car accident. You just replace them." Nothing like the unbreakable bond between a coach and his players, now is there? Do his players even get De Villiers? Perhaps we are about to find out. His detractors – the constructive ones, that is – point to his method to portray his madness. They lambast him for taking away the structure and, in the process, for taking away the essential nature of Springbok rugby. In footballing terms he stands accused of trying to make Germany play like Brazil. Instead they play like Portugal. World-beaters one week, eaten by Wallabies the very next. From the highs of winning for the first time in Dunedin, to the lows of finishing bottom in the Tri-Nations. So much for the infamous South African consistency.

The autumn internationals did nothing to clear up this baffling, split personality. McGeechan might very well look through the tapes and wonder, "Who turns up at the first Test in Durban?" The lacklustre mob so almost humbled at Murrayfield or the slick machine that rumbled wearily into west London and proceeded to gouge huge tracks all over Twickenham. De Villiers will naturally claim the latter as his squad becomes more accustomed to what he calls "their own empowerment". That is his calling card and is how his tenure will ultimately be judged. "You can give a hungry child a fish and feed him for one day, or you can teach him to fish and he can feed himself for the rest of his life," says De Villiers. "That's what we try to do."

There is more to this 51-year-old than all the Cantonaisms. After all, he is a pioneer and one who, on being unveiled in his historic role, was done no favour by the president of the South African Rugby Union, Oregon Hoskins. In his desire to "to be honest with South Africans", Hoskins admitted: "The appointment did not take into account only rugby reasons."

The reality is that the appointment easily could have. De Villiers, a scrum-half whose ambition was quashed like so many by apartheid, might not have been as well-qualified as Heyneke Meyer, but still could boast a track record at the very least comparable with that of White, having coached through the age groups right up to the Emerging Springboks. Furthermore, De Villiers pleaded "that the fact I'm the first black coach must end now". Some hope.

His reign thus far has been so dominated by the colour of the skin that it has been difficult to pick out the coach from the issue and, indeed, the character from the controversy. First, there was a sex-tape scandal he called "a racial plot" (it was later dismissed as "a hoax") and last month a South African newspaper reported that at a meeting of high-ranking officials one called De Villiers "an ape who did not know what he was doing". That also proved to be a nonsense, but clearly more damage had been done. Little wonder De Villiers threatened to quit.

But he stayed and now the biggest Tests await. Perhaps not as challenging as the Tri-Nations schedule, but way more pressurised. Lose and the dream could come tumbling down. As a boy, he saw the 1974 Lions beat South Africa and was hooked. "I decided to come to Wales [and do his coaching badges] because I adored the style they were playing," he said. "I drew energy from what they did." This time around the Lions could be providing De Villiers with a whole new lifeforce.

Slip of the tongue? The wit and wisdom of Peter de Villiers

On the result "There's little difference between winning and losing, except you feel better after winning."

On rugby "I know dancing is also a contact sport, but rugby is far from dancing. If you want to run with the big dogs then sometimes you have to lift your leg."

On inspiring players (1) "What we try to tell them is when you point your finger into the sky, don't concentrate on the finger because you'll miss all the heavenly glory out there. Concentrate on the heavenly glory you can bring and make yourselves so fulfilled."

On inspiring players (2) "I'll tell them talk is cheap and money buys whisky."

On his critics (1) "The same people who threw their robes on the ground when Jesus rode on a donkey were the same people who crowned him and hit him with sticks, and were the same people who said afterwards how we shouldn't have done that, he's the son of God. So that's exactly what we do. You have to look at history as repeating itself. And I'm not saying that I'm God."

On his critics (2) "If you want to be negative, be negative in your own backyard. Why take other people with you? If you want to jump off a bridge, do it alone! I'm not saying I don't deserve it. Maybe I do."

On players "Rugby players are very selfish people. They don't have any feeling. They just look after themselves and their interests. But what if you find the person and you know what makes him tick and laugh and cry and be happy, and you can add to that, you'll get the best out of them. And I think if you look at the spirit in the team that we have at the moment, that's exactly what we've got right."

On human nature "You can't rely on people to take you anywhere in life. Today they'll smile with you and tomorrow they'll still smile with you, but they'll bite you in the back. The only thing that won't change is the smile."

On leading "I can spend three or four minutes with any person and I'll know who he is and what he's about and if he's there for the right cause or for his own agenda... I'm blessed. I am a born leader."

On reporters "We talk about murderers and gangsters. Our biggest gang is newspaper reporters. They spread lies and murder people without knowing it by making them say: 'Right, we just have to do drugs now because there's nothing left in this country for us'."