The black coach of the world champion Springboks apologised on Friday for saying the job should be given back to the whites.

Peter de Villiers, the first black to guide the South African national senior rugby team, made the remark last week after a report linked him to an alleged sex blackmail threat.

A Johannesburg newspaper claimed De Villiers was told a video showing him having sex with a woman in a car park would be released if an unnamed Springbok was dropped.

De Villiers, who replaced 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White this year, reacted by claiming the blackmail rumour was part of a "racist plot" and "would give his job back to the whites".

The apology was carried in a South African Rugby Union (SARU) statement after he met president Oregan Hoskins in this Indian Ocean city.

Springbok media officer Chris Hewitt, the first person to tell the coach about the tape, has been suspended after a SARU probe found no evidence that it existed.

Although South Africa won five of nine Tests under De Villiers, they managed only one success each against Australia and New Zealand when coming last in the Tri-Nations championship.

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