Intense political and commercial pressure was mounting against Peter de Villiers, coach of South Africa's national rugby team, the Springboks, after he supported a rugby player accused of murdering a metro policeman in Pretoria.

The Citizen newspaper in Johannesburg reported that both the sponsors Sasol (a petrotchemical giant) and ABSA (a major South African bank) were unhappy with the coach's comments. They were calling for a retraction or his dismissal.

The Springboks are the rugby Word Cup champions and their brand is estimated by South African expert Christopher Koller, group managing director of Interbrand Sampson, to be worth 500 million rands (68.5 million U.S. dollars).

Koller said the coach's remarks undoubtedly damaged the Springbok brand. He questioned the wisdom of allowing De Villiers to continue with media conferences, which frequently turn out to be controversial.

"The corporate reputation of the Springboks needs to be far better considered and managed. As ambassadors of the team (De Villiers) needs to realize how his comments could affect the brand," said Koller.

The Springbok brand should be managed like any company would its own brand, he said.

"To associate your brand with a murder accused is very dangerous. For Peter de Villiers to make such a statement is extremely short-sighted and the damage could be immense," said Koller.

The Citizen said senior South African politicians, whom it did not name, were calling for the coach to be removed.

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