Skipper de Villiers relishing battle with Earls

South African captain Jean de Villiers is relishing the prospect of facing former Munster colleague Keith Earls at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

De Villiers played the 2009/10 season with the Irish province and partnered Earls in the centre on five occasions, including a Heineken Cup quarter-final win over Northampton Saints.

With Brian O’Driscoll’s ankle injury ruling him out until January, it looks likely that Earls could line-up at outside centre against the Springboks this weekend.

De Villiers said: “If Keith takes his place at 13, he’ll do fantastically well. We played together in the centre on a few occasions. He has all the skills to be a great player in that position and has matured so well in the last few years.”

The 31-year-old was dropped for Earls midway through his season with Munster but it was his try-scoring contribution, coming off the bench against Perpignan, that helped him settle in the province.

“I probably did let the team down a bit in the first couple of games,” he admits. “It was a combination of expectations and me not living up to them and maybe pressure that I put on myself. Once I felt comfortable in the environment and started enjoying it, I think it shone through in how I was playing. It was such a great experience for me, as a person and as a rugby player.”

But the former Munster man didn’t enjoy the experience of November 2009, shivering on the replacements bench as Ireland took the game to the Springboks to claim a 15-10 win.

De Villiers recalled: “The one thing I can remember is that it was bloody cold. I was sitting on the bench and it was quite difficult to get onto the field and get warmed up. That day, Ireland were better than us.”

There was no question of who was the better side a year later, in the opening Test match at the Aviva, when a Morne Steyn-inspired South Africa streaked into a 23-9 lead before a late Irish rally proved rousing but, ultimately, futile. “We scored one intercept try (through Juan Smith) in 2010 and that sort of swung the game in our favour,” de Villiers admitted.

“The margins are so tight when both sides have met and we can’t expect anything else on Saturday.”

Jamie Heaslip has predicted what style of play to expect from the Springboks. “The forwards provide and the backs execute,” said Heaslip. “They’ve also got kickers who can land kicks from a long way back.”

The South African captain is in no mood to argue. “We pride ourselves on our physicality but we will be looking to show a bit more. It’ll be brutal out there and tough — that is what we bring to all our matches.”