‘This is the reason I’m here’

AS his year-long love affair with Munster nears the end, Jean de Villiers wants to leave the Irish team with something big to remember him by before his return to South Africa late next month.

Top of his wish list is to help Munster to their third Heineken Cup title by powering past Biarritz in this weekend’s semi-final, and then to beat either Toulouse or arch-rivals Leinster in the final. De Villiers has also set his sights on helping his team retain the Magners League.

In a show of determination, in keeping with his high status in world rugby, de Villiers said: “Winning both the Heineken Cup and Magners League would be the perfect departure script, but that’s looking too far ahead. At the moment the only thing I’m focusing on is Sunday. Once you start planning too far ahead you tend to get lost and this is the time of the year when you can only focus on one game at a time.