Saturday, November 06, 2010
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.
Jean de Villiers was as perplexed as anyone because he believed the second Test win over Italy had been the perfect dress rehearsal for the daunting trip to Auckland on July 10.
"Maybe, maybe not," he suggested. "We might have glossed over some problems from the first game by our performance in the second; I don’t know."
Either way, the former Munster and Springbok star is aware his team has to recover quickly from the ego-battering suffered during that poor run of Tri-Nations results. In South African rugby circles, one win from six is simply not acceptable, de Villiers admitted.
"It is more than a game in our country; it’s a lifestyle thing. We’re proud of our country and proud of our rugby; we set very high standards and this was definitely not a good season for us. We know that, and it’s something that has to change.
"There’s a real pressure back home. It’s like if you lose once it’s acceptable, if you lose two it might seem fine but it’s not because people start talking and complaining, so you can imagine what it’s like to lose three or four in a row — then it’s really backs to the wall and chaos.
"South Africans are unforgiving in that situation but it’s something we have to cope with, because we’re the ones who played the games and who shaped the results. There is only one way to go now and that’s up, but we must start putting performances together immediately and get the results to go with those performances."
From within the Boks camp, de Villiers, having spent what he describes as a memorable 12 months in Ireland, will know more than most how Ireland’s coach Declan Kidney deals with adversity; it was interesting to note how close their respective opinions on injuries are.
KIDNEY has always said that one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity. De Villiers agrees — in the knowledge that today’s South African line up is far from being full strength.
"Injuries are part of sport, particularly in rugby because it is contact stuff. That’s why we need to be aware of having players capable of filling the gap. I believe we will be putting out the strongest team available at the Aviva Stadium and it is up to us to uphold the honour of the jersey, just as it would be for Ireland or anyone else.
"Far from being a blow, I believe this is an opportunity for the squad to develop and for players to lay down a challenge in advance of next season and before, particularly, the World Cup in September."
Even if his sights are on other things, de Villiers is delighted to be back in Ireland and confessed to missing Munster; professionalism will dictate that he must stand face to face against some old colleagues, although he promised not to hold back from taking on old adversaries from Leinster either!
With a grin, he said: "I’ll certainly be wearing the South African jersey and that’s uppermost in my mind, but if I manage to get a big hit on any of the Leinster guys, I might just put it down to getting some revenge in for Munster too."
He admitted that Munster and Limerick had tugged at his heart-strings before he made the decision to go back and fight for his World Cup place with the Springboks.
"Look, Munster is now a part of my life beyond rugby. I don’t regret a single minute, I made a huge number of friends, so did my wife Rachel and she’s over here now and staying on after I get back home; honestly, you don’t walk away from Munster and just forget.
"It really was a very tough decision; people won’t understand how hard it was. If I arrived in Ireland and hated everything, didn’t enjoy the team I was playing in and didn’t enjoy the culture then it would have been an easy decision but this was totally different and totally special.
"Yes, there was the temptation to stay another year, but I wanted to play in the upcoming World Cup. Had I waited, it would probably have been too late and too big a risk."
Risk is, however, part of his business and he sees today’s game as a huge gamble against a team of Ireland’s calibre.
"We respect what Ireland has achieved and how dangerous that trend-setting back division is. Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy must rank as up there with the best in terms of partnership. Tommy Bowe has had the most unbelievable 24 months in his career, and Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney are absolutely class. Their half backs aren’t half bad either, are they?"
De Villiers recalled his first experience of Lansdowne Road in 2004 when he sat on the bench and watched Ronan O’Gara score what he describes as "Rog’s crooked try" en-route to the first of three successive Irish wins in Dublin.
"It’s time we changed the trend of results," he insisted, "Lansdowne Road was ancient in terms of modern stadiums but it was quirky and had a special atmosphere; even though everything is new, I’m sure things won’t have changed."
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