De Villiers aims to get back in groove

Pieter De Villiers will make his return to the France team on Sunday just a fortnight after fearing his World Cup dreams could be ruined for the second successive occasion.

The Stade Francais front-row forward missed the 2003 World Cup after injuring his shoulder falling off his mountain bike during training with Les Bleus prior to the tournament.

He remains a key member of the French team four years on, especially with fellow Stade prop Sylvain Marconnet ruled out of this autumn’s showpiece after failing to recover from a broken leg.

However, De Villiers feared history was about to repeat itself when he succumbed to a calf injury a fortnight ago, days before the friendly against England at Twickenham and just a month before the start of the World Cup.

“Yes, I was scared,” the South Africa-born player said, ahead of this weekend’s clash with Wales in Cardiff.

“It is always scary, especially considering I had a calf injury not long ago.

“And I have already missed a World Cup because of injury, so it is true, there was a lot of anguish.

“But at the moment everything is okay. I am back in training and there is no problem. I no longer feel anything with my calf.

“Now I just want to get back on the pitch and finish this preparation period.

“The important thing is to rediscover the rhythm you get from playing matches.”

With De Villiers missing the recent back-to-back victories against England, he will go into the warm-up clash against a fired-up Wales side cold, at least in terms of match practice.

But he insists he is in prime physical condition after two months of fitness work with the France squad at their purpose-built training camp in Marcoussis.

“We will do the reviews after the match,” he added.

“I have spent a lot of time preparing myself physically. I think that physical preparation has added a stronger dimension and more efficiency than some years ago.

“Nothing can compare to a match, of course, and it risks being intense.

“I saw the matches (against England) and they were very intense for warm-up matches. The players were physically strong, there were heavy tackles, and a big fight for possession at the breakdown.

“I said to myself that this is what the World Cup promises to be like.

“But the two matches were positives for France.”

Indeed, things could hardly be going better for Les Bleus, a 21-15 victory over the world champions at Twickenham being followed by a 22-9 success against the same opponents in Marseille last weekend.

The squad seems confident, in good shape and in harmony.

The only negative to come from the past two weeks is the withdrawal of Marconnet, a pillar for the French in the pack and one of De Villiers’ close friends.

The prop, who broke his leg in March in a skiing accident, has seen his recovery from injury hampered by a nagging ankle problem.

His withdrawal was confirmed on Monday, with Nicolas Mas coming in to replace him, and De Villiers has nothing but sympathy for Marconnet.

“We have experienced it all with him, we have seen that it wasn’t always easy, that he gave everything to play in the World Cup,” he said.

“Unfortunately he won’t be there – it is the hardest and most cruel law in sport. Injuries are the biggest nightmare for a top-level sportsman.

“It is a massive disappointment, but he is a great champion and he will return.”

Meanwhile, France captain Raphael Ibanez is nursing a calf strain himself, and missed training on Tuesday.

The Wasps hooker was not named in the squad of 22 that will take on the Welsh this weekend.