South African Jean De Villiers is fit for Irish Test
South African centre Jean De Villiers has been declared fit for their opening Test match against Ireland on Saturday 6 November at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The former Munster player was a serious doubt for the game as he was suffering from a groin injury, but the Springbok was named in the first team and will join Zane Kirchner in the midfield.
Kirchner normally plays his rugby at full back, but injuries to centres Jaque Fourie and Juan De Jongh has forced South Africa to pick the full back as a centre alongside Jean De Villiers.
Springbok coach Peter De Villiers (no relation to Jean) had provisionally named the centre in his starting line up subject to the player passing a fitness test.
“We have been hard hit by injuries so to have Jean available is a major boost," said the South African coach.
Peter De Villiers was keen to have the experienced 29-year-old in his team to face Irelands Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, which is arguably the best centre pairing in the world.
"[Jean] is an experienced international and is in charge of the backs on tour so it's great to see him back on the field," the coach added.
Patrick Lambie would have made his debut at inside centre for South Africa if Jean De Villiers had failed to recover from his groin injury.
The midfielder now drops to the bench and will hope to feature at some point during the game.
Peter De Villiers had prepared for the match with Kirchner and Lambie in midfield, but the coach will be relieved that he will have Jean De Villiers for the fixture.
The centre is not only experienced and relied on for his leadership. He also has an inside knowledge of the Irish side after his season with Munster.
"We made a contingency plan and trained with that in mind, but with Jean's knowledge of Ireland's players having played for Munster, it was important to have him available for this match," added Peter
De Villiers.
Tags: