De Villiers hoping for Stormers return

Jean de Villiers cannot see himself playing for any other South African except the Stormers, following his revelation last week that he will quit Munster in favour of a return to his homeland.

The 28-year-old signed an initial one-year deal with Munster when he joined last September, but announced he was leaving the Red Army due to his desire to represent the Springboks at next year’s World Cup.

His decision came after consultation with the South African Rugby Union (SARU), who confirmed that players plying their trade outside the country will not be considered for selection ahead of next year’s finals in New Zealand.

De Villiers is now on a mission to find a new team and he admitted his desire to return to Cape Town.

“It will be difficult for me to pull on any other (provincial) jersey than that of Western Province and the Stormers,” he said.

“I will see where I’m needed. Province is where I always played before. It would be the union that I would like to return to. It depends on whether they want me or not.

“I’d be surprised if we don’t strike a deal. But things have changed. They have moved on and so have I. Hopefully we can get back together.”

The 55-capped Springbok centre will now see out the season in south-west Ireland, before moving back home.

His last match in the northern hemisphere is set to be in the jersey of the Barbarians when they face Ireland on June 4.

That match comes just a week before South Africa are to face France at Newlands and De Villiers is unsure whether he will be part of the national set-up for that game.

He continued: “The Springboks play the weekend after that. I don’t know whether I’ll be in contention for the team.”

The decision to come home is fully motivated by his desire to play in the World Cup.

De Villiers was an integral part of the South African side before he left, but missed the 2003 World Cup through a knee injury, while a bicep injury in the first match of the tournament four years later forced him to miss the remainder of the finals.

Although he did receive a winner’s medal in 2007, he added: “When the time came for me to decide whether I should extend my contract with Munster, I asked myself whether I wanted to play in the World Cup.

“Secondly I had to find out South Africa’s policy on picking overseas-based players.

“The World Cup is so special that I would have regretted it had I not tried to come into the reckoning.

“I was also told that the policy is quite rigid in terms of only picking players that play their rugby in South Africa,” concluded De Villiers in an interview with www.sport.24.com.

Last week, the managing director of WP Rugby, Rob Wagner, confirmed the union’s interest in signing their former star midfielder.

“Jean is a world class player who has excelled on the international stage,” he said.

“He has played all his rugby in the Cape having represented both WP and the Stormers. We will be contacting him to learn more of his intentions and explore opportunities.”