Transformed De Villiers ready to make his mark

EARLY October 2009, Munster had just been hockeyed 30-0 by bitter rivals Leinster. Jean de Villiers, their high-profile high-cost South African signing, had had a nightmare as himself and centre partner Lifeimi Mafi got thoroughly outplayed by the D’Arcy/O’Driscoll pairing.

It wasn’t de Villiers’ first poor match since joining Munster and shortly afterwards the unthinkable happened, he was dropped for a vital Heineken Cup game against Perpignan.

Legend has it that he was approached by a teammate who asked: “Tell me, do you have a twin who plays with the Springboks?”

Classic Munster. It had recognition of a problem; there was no quarter given – even for a recent World Cup winner.

De Villiers took it all on the chin, became a willing tackle-partner for the chosen elite, even went so far as to become a Maor Uisce.

That was early last October, and a lot of Shannon has passed under Annacotta bridge — down the road from where de Villiers established his base in Limerick — since then.

In last Friday night’s Magners League match with Leinster, the genial South African was one of Munster’s better backs in a game that this time went down to the wire.

Quite a transformation for a man who, in another few weeks, will be heading back home in an attempt to stake a claim for the World Cup in New Zealand next year.

This week, as Munster geared up for yet another huge Heineken Cup challenge, de Villiers took a few minutes to reflect on his time in the southern province.

“You could definitely call it a slow start — I think of is as a bad start. I wasn’t playing great rugby at the beginning, it was a fight for me to get back into the team.

“The reality of being dropped for the two Perpignan games maybe was the challenge I needed at that time of my career, and at that time of the season.”

Lack of a regular playing-partner perhaps? Excuse offered on a plate, but – in the manner in which this hard and straight-running centre plays his rugby – smashed aside

“No, I don’t think so at all. There’s a lot of things you can try to blame for your bad form but at the start of the season I wasn’t playing good rugby, I wasn’t doing the stuff I got contracted for.

“I made the decision to come to Munster, Tony (McGahan) and the coaches knew what they had in me, they were hoping for me to deliver that and I wasn’t, not at that stage.

“It’s all about putting in the performances on the pitch and I wasn’t doing that.

“I’m happy with where I am now, this is obviously a stage of the season where you want to be in contention for a place on the team; getting a starting spot for me is fantastic.

“It’s great to be on the team at the moment, pushing for the Heineken Cup this weekend, quarter-finals – these are the games you play for, this is why you play rugby, to play in these sort of games.”

And his Munster rugby experience? “It’s been fantastic. It’s always difficult for any outsider to come in, especially to a settled squad like this where the bulk of the team has been playing together for so long.

“That’s what makes it special; it’s a family environment, the guys really play for each other, they feel for each other, they can be hard on each other. You take that in, get back and play top-class rugby.

“Not only the rugby that has been played, but also the friends that have been made, that’s something I’ll cherish.

“Obviously if we can go on and win this weekend, get to the next stage of the competition, that will be terrific, and hopefully go all the way.

“But it’s been fantastic, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Obviously also, de Villiers would like to go out with a bang, leave Munster and the Munster supporters with as fine an impression of him as he obviously has of them.

“Yes, but without putting too much pressure on that; I’ve already played my last game at Musgrave, only got two left at Thomond Park, and I definitely want to make that special – end of an era.

“The individual milestones are very small in the bigger picture but I’d like to head home knowing I gave it my all, that I did all I could do to make this a successful team. All of the guys who went before did a great job, it’s my responsibility to be able to do the same this week. It’s a great challenge, those are the situations you want to be in as a professional rugby player, playing top-class rugby and representing a fantastic team in the world of rugby.

“I’d like to see myself still improving, but this is the time of the season when you do want to be playing at your best. I’d like to build on that (Leinster rematch) performance, but the individual performance means nothing if the team isn’t winning. I’d much rather have had a bad game – well, not like the first Leinster game, not that bad! – but a bad-ish game, and Munster getting the win.”

Away from rugby, de Villiers has also enjoyed the experience: “It’s been lovely, it’s been really good, I’ve enjoyed it. In making the decision to come over you expect it to be wet, you know what’s going to happen, but I’ve actually really enjoyed it.

“It hasn’t been that wet (howls of disbelief!), and the snow we had during Christmas, I’ve never experienced that. I had my parents over for Christmas, it was a lovely experience, I’m just happy I decided to come here.”