Latest news with #PieterdeVilliers
STV News
07-07-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Pieter de Villiers warns Scotland a ‘strong challenge' awaits against Fiji
Pieter de Villiers has warned Scotland to expect a much tougher test away to Fiji on Saturday than when the two sides last met in November. The Scots cruised to an eight-try 57-17 victory at Murrayfield eight months ago, but the visitors were under-strength as the match fell outside the designated international window. Scrum coach De Villiers anticipates the Fijians being a far more competitive opponent in Suva this weekend after running Australia close in a 21-18 defeat on Sunday. 'I think Fiji are a good side currently and they probably have a stronger squad than when we played last time, just because they've got more players available to them,' he said on Monday. 'Playing them at (their) home where there will be a lot of support and where they want to do well, I think it's quite a physical Fiji side at the moment as well. So yes, we expect a strong challenge from them and that's what we're looking forward to. 'It will be important to match the physicality that they're currently bringing to opposition. I thought they did very well against Australia as well, so we need to be up for that physical challenge.' Scotland are expected to select several more established players against Fiji after fielding a largely experimental team in the first game of their South Pacific summer tour on Saturday, a 29-26 victory over Maori All Blacks in a non-cap international in Whangarei. 'Like we often do in the summer tour, we want to use everyone that's on tour, give everyone an opportunity to express themselves and have a go or get game time on the field, so there will probably be some changes this weekend again,' said De Villiers. 'But I thought the guys who got their opportunity on Saturday really did a good job against a strong, well-organised, physical Maori side, so we're quite happy with how the boys went on Saturday.' De Villiers confirmed Glasgow forward Gregor Brown will miss the Fiji match after suffering a concussion on Saturday, while Edinburgh back-rower Ben Muncaster is recovering from a dead leg. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
05-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Scotland have 'grown' against Ireland, now it's time to win
Scrum coach Pieter de Villiers says Scotland have "grown consistently" against Ireland and now is the time to beat sides meet in round two of the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Sunday, having opened the championship with bonus-point victories over Italy and England have lost their past 10 meetings with Ireland but De Villiers says the belief is there that they can end that run."Ireland are a team who have been consistently up there with the top teams in terms of the world rankings, so it's always a great excitement for us to play them," he said."Over the years, we've grown consistently against them. So it's time for us to go and look for a win against them, and it's important for us to go into the game with that kind of mindset."Believing in it and making sure for 80 minutes you get everything in every department right. That is what Ireland tend to do as they are very consistent in all different areas of play."So that firstly is going to be important and then secondly is the belief. Going out there and really believing that we're going to go and do it. I think the players are all in a good place with regards to that."
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Peter de Villiers confident Scotland are now capable of beating Ireland
Pieter de Villiers believes Scotland have been steadily building towards a level where they are now ready to banish their Ireland hoodoo. The Scots have lost each of their last 10 meetings with the Irish since they last defeated them in February 2017, four months before current head coach Gregor Townsend took charge. De Villiers, who has been Scotland's scrum coach for the past five years, declared that they are 'in a good place' as they bid to end their eight-year wait for a win over Ireland in Sunday's Guinness Six Nations showdown at Murrayfield. 'The first thing that's very positive is that we've consistently grown against them,' De Villiers said on Tuesday. 'When you play one of these top teams and they're ranked higher than you, it's always going to take time to go and construct that win. 'You have to grow as a team and that growth sometimes comes over time. Believing in it and making sure for 80 minutes you get everything right in every department, that is what Ireland tend to do as they are very consistent in all different areas of play. 'So that firstly is going to be important and then secondly is the belief. Going out there and really believing that we're going to go and do it. I think the players are all in a good place with regards to that. 'We know there's a lot of work that needs to be done when you want to go and beat a team that's up there in the rankings, but we're excited. 'Then it's about going out there and performing under pressure, which is something we've also been growing. There's been the odd game here and there where we haven't so it's important to go and make that a habit now.' Ireland are temporarily without their head coach Andy Farrell as he focuses on leading the British and Irish Lions, while forwards Tadhg Furlong and Joe McCarthy are among those unavailable for this weekend's match in Edinburgh. However, de Villiers played down any notion that the Irish are diminished by the absence of key personnel. 'I think it's more important to concentrate on what we need to get right,' he said. 'Ireland have shown in the past that whatever changes happen to their collective, they tend to have that collective as their strength. 'Whenever there are a couple of changes happening it doesn't seem to pull the collective down that much. It's important for us to be sure that we get everything we want to do right, and consistently right, to be able to go and get that win.' Scotland added Edinburgh lock Sam Skinner to their squad on Monday and De Villiers reported a clean bill among the rest of the group following Saturday's 31-19 win at home to Italy. 'It was a physical game, I thought Italy played well and really brought the game to us,' he said. 'It wasn't perfect, far from it. But we started well, which we wanted to do. 'We ended well, which we wanted to do, so we have to fix that middle part. But we came through that without any injuries, which shows resilience as well from a physical perspective, and that's positive.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Peter de Villiers confident Scotland are now capable of beating Ireland
Pieter de Villiers believes Scotland have been steadily building towards a level where they are now ready to banish their Ireland hoodoo. The Scots have lost each of their last 10 meetings with the Irish since they last defeated them in February 2017, four months before current head coach Gregor Townsend took charge. De Villiers, who has been Scotland's scrum coach for the past five years, declared that they are 'in a good place' as they bid to end their eight-year wait for a win over Ireland in Sunday's Guinness Six Nations showdown at Murrayfield. POV: You're in the gym with the Scotland pack 🏋️#AsOne — Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 5, 2025 'The first thing that's very positive is that we've consistently grown against them,' De Villiers said on Tuesday. 'When you play one of these top teams and they're ranked higher than you, it's always going to take time to go and construct that win. 'You have to grow as a team and that growth sometimes comes over time. Believing in it and making sure for 80 minutes you get everything right in every department, that is what Ireland tend to do as they are very consistent in all different areas of play. 'So that firstly is going to be important and then secondly is the belief. Going out there and really believing that we're going to go and do it. I think the players are all in a good place with regards to that. 'We know there's a lot of work that needs to be done when you want to go and beat a team that's up there in the rankings, but we're excited. 'Then it's about going out there and performing under pressure, which is something we've also been growing. There's been the odd game here and there where we haven't so it's important to go and make that a habit now.' Ireland are temporarily without their head coach Andy Farrell as he focuses on leading the British and Irish Lions, while forwards Tadhg Furlong and Joe McCarthy are among those unavailable for this weekend's match in Edinburgh. However, de Villiers played down any notion that the Irish are diminished by the absence of key personnel. 'I think it's more important to concentrate on what we need to get right,' he said. 'Ireland have shown in the past that whatever changes happen to their collective, they tend to have that collective as their strength. 'Whenever there are a couple of changes happening it doesn't seem to pull the collective down that much. It's important for us to be sure that we get everything we want to do right, and consistently right, to be able to go and get that win.' Scotland added Edinburgh lock Sam Skinner to their squad on Monday and De Villiers reported a clean bill among the rest of the group following Saturday's 31-19 win at home to Italy. 'It was a physical game, I thought Italy played well and really brought the game to us,' he said. 'It wasn't perfect, far from it. But we started well, which we wanted to do. 'We ended well, which we wanted to do, so we have to fix that middle part. But we came through that without any injuries, which shows resilience as well from a physical perspective, and that's positive.'
