Peter de Villiers future will be up for discussion on September 28 © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Peter De Villiers | Jake White

Tournaments/Tours: Tri Nations

Teams: South Africa

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) will meet embattled Springbok head coach Peter De Villiers on September 28 to review the performances of his team this season.

The evaluation of the head coach and his team takes place amid mounting criticism of a Tri-Nations campaign that saw South Africa finish bottom of the table, a year on from claiming the title.

World Cup-winning coach Jake White has publicly stated his desire to replace De Villiers prior to next year's World Cup and the coach must now defend the worst Tri-Nations performance by a Springbok team in the history of the competition.

James Stoffberg, head of SARU's technical committee and vice-president of the union, confirmed they will meet with De Villiers in Johannesburg at the end of the month.

"For anyone that has anything to do with South African rugby, high performance is very important," he said. "Sport is about winning. The Springboks are now third on the world rankings. We are very serious about putting in place a support base to enable South Africa to win next year's World Cup tournament.

"It's easier to become champions than to stay champions. South Africa did not have a good Tri-Nations. If you aren't evaluated, you won't be able to identify where you are going wrong. Rugby is a team game and you can't blame one person for a defeat."

Stoffberg refused to be drawn on the topics up for discussion, but after De Villiers' public utterings on the case of Bulls prop Bees Roux, who has been charged with the murder of a policeman, and criticism of referees on the Tri-Nations the coach is under tremendous pressure to keep his job.

"It's not just about criticising," Stoffberg said. "The mistakes that have been made need to be rectified. We also have to build on our strengths. We need a pro-active plan in place for what we want on the tour at the end of the year and next year's World Cup. It does not help if we only start thinking about these issues in January next year."