Former Springboks head honcho Peter de Villiers, who led them between 2008 and 2011, was one of the best South Africa ever had.<\/b><\/p>\n
That is according to ex-wing Odwa Ndungane, who played under the much-maligned De Villiers during his time in the national team set-up.<\/p>\n
After Jake White\u2019s<\/a> departure following the 2007 Rugby World Cup success, De Villiers was appointed and became the country\u2019s first black head coach.<\/p>\n Criticism of his appointment and time in charge<\/p>\n It was not met with universal acclaim by South African fans and there was certainly criticism of him throughout his Springboks<\/a> tenure, but Ndungane had a different view.<\/p>\n \u201cI did quite enjoy Peter de Villiers. He was actually quite a funny guy, he\u2019s got quite a personality about him and I also take my hat off to him,\u201d he told Front Row Rugby<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was under huge pressure coming into the job. Being at the top coaching the Springboks, pressure from the fans and pressure from the media is part and parcel of the job, and where I take my hat off is how he handled everything.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could never tell within the squad that he was not enjoying his job because of the pressure he was under. Every single time we would come across him in the changing room, in the hotel room, the bus, he was always full of energy, full of positivity.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of technical coaching, he was definitely up there. He had good plans for us and I think he surrounded himself with good coaching staff in Dick [Muir] and Gary [Gold].\u201d<\/p>\n Percy Montgomery: \u2018There was something about Rassie, you just knew he was different\u2019<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Ndungane\u2019s praise came despite his criticism of one aspect of De Villiers\u2019 reign, which actually would have impacted him significantly.<\/p>\n The 44-year-old, who earned nine Test caps, was generally on the periphery of the squad and felt he did not get enough feedback from the head coach at the time.<\/p>\n