‘You don’t walk away from Munster and just forget’

Leaving Ireland was a bigger wrench for Jean de Villiers than he let on, but the South African centre is now fully focused on fulfilling his World Cup dream. He spoke to Barry Coughlan.

IN hindsight, two friendly fixtures against Italy in the month of June may have been responsible for South Africa’s difficulties in this year’s Tri-Nations.

In the first, the Springboks struggled to a 29-13 win and they followed it up with a whopping 55-11 victory a fortnight before the first of three consecutive away defeats to New Zealand and Australia that defined a dismal competitive season.