The discontent that has been simmering between the British and Irish Lions and Springbok coach Peter de Villiers escalated to boiling point on Wednesday when it was contended that Ian McGeechan had extended a congratulatory hand to De Villiers shortly after last weekend's 28-25 win for the South Africans in Pretoria.
On Tuesday De Villiers was asked in a media conference whether McGeechan had approached him and shaken his hand.
"No he hasn't," De Villiers emphatically told reporters.
But at Wednesday's media conference featuring Lions captain Paul O'Connell and forwards coach Graham Rowntree, Lions media officer Greg Thomas said: "I would like to clarify this issue about us not congratulating the Springboks: Ian McGeechan twice met Peter de Villiers after the match and passed on his congratulations there and then."
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| 'I saw Ian shake De Villiers's hand' |
Thomas said the first occasion was when the coaches met in a corridor immediately after the final whistle and the second was when they were both waiting to do TV interviews.
"I saw Ian shake De Villiers's hand and so did other members of our management," Thomas said.
No doubt McGeechan himself will shed light on the matter at the team announcement on Thursday afternoon.
De Villiers was in hot water with the South African Rugby Union last week for making racist comments in answering a reporter's rugby-related question about the form of black player Ricky Januarie and earlier this week the IRB intervened when they felt De Villiers had brought the game into disrepute after he had defended Schalk Burger on his eye-gouging charge.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on July 02, 2009
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