De Villiers keen on return but to retire if off-form
JEAN de Villiers, who hopes to return from a serious knee injury with a cameo for the Springboks against the World XV on July 11, says he will quit rugby if his performances in the coming months are below par.
But he warned that it would take time to return to form.
“My first comeback is not going to be great,” De Villiers, 34, said yesterday.
He is keen to play in Western Province’s Currie Cup warm-up matches against the Pumas and the Eastern Province Kings.
“But it means everything to me – the Springbok team and the culture of the team, the culture of the Western Province, the Stormers and every team I’m involved with. And also my reputation is at risk.
“I think as a player you’ll know if you’re not needed and if you’re not good enough,” the Bok skipper said.
“I’ll know. Definitely if that is the case, I’ll walk away. That won’t be easy but you also don’t want to embarrass yourself.”
De Villiers, speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of his tribute series which would feature a gala dinner and two golf days, dismissed suggestions he was a shoo-in for the Bok team, let alone the captaincy.
“I need to prove that I’m good enough to play for the Springboks, and if I get the opportu- nity to captain again, that’ll be fantastic,” the centre said.
“You obviously don’t just walk into a test match. I think the World XV game, not being a test match, there’s far less pressure in a game like that. It might be a possibility to be introduced in there off the bench.”
De Villiers wants to “get as close to a full game” by the time WP play the EP Kings on July 25.
“Those warm-up games will be crucial for me just to get into the swing of things. [Being] back playing is one thing. Getting form back and being good enough to play at a higher level, that’s where you need to get to. So only time will tell.”
Asked if he was relieved to be at this stage of his rehabilitation, De Villiers said: “Not yet. I still haven’t played my first game back. There’s still a lot to go through. It’s been an unbelievable journey and an unbelievable seven months.”
He was adamant that he had not gone through the rehabilita- tion just to go to the World Cup.
“I’m definitely not going through seven to 10 months of rehab to play seven to 10 games. I would like to extend that and make it worth while.
“From a physical point of view, I’m really well-conditioned now and I’m sure my body can hold up for at least another season,” the star said.
“So I would like to extend that and maybe run out for the Stormers again next year. My role will definitely change a bit, but I’m looking to play at least another year.”
De Villiers made his return to golf this week, playing with Stormers coach Allister Coetzee and Bok teammates, Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen.
But instead of hitting the ball right as usual, he was forced to make adjustments after consistently steering it left “with my new knee”. “I lost money,” he said with a chuckle.
De Villiers was 14 when the Boks won the 1995 World Cup, but he remembered that day well. After watching the match at home with his best friend, they went outside to celebrate.
“You can still sort of get that feeling when Joel [Stransky] kicked that final winning drop.
“After the game, we were running around in the streets of Paarl with the flag. People were driving around, it was hectic, with everyone hooting.
“It was, I think, the biggest carnival atmosphere ever that I’ve experienced,” he said.
“The scary thing is I’m playing with guys now who weren’t even born then.”