De Villiers home after yet another shattered Cup dream
‘There will always be that emptiness, to be honest.’ Jean de Villiers
THERE were four Rugby World Cups during Jean de Villiers’ 13-year, 109-test career for South Africa and injury spoiled every single one of them for him.
‘‘I reckon the Rugby World Cup and Jean de Villiers, those two are not meant to go together,’’ he said on his return home from another showpiece he won’t get to finish.
De Villiers also won’t get another chance, announcing his international retirement after a broken jaw against Samoa – the second time he’s broken his jaw in two months – ruled him out of this tournament and prematurely ended the final chapter in the career of one of South Africa’s finest players.
Also surely one of the unluckiest. Broken jaws, multiple serious knee injuries, and other damaged body parts conspired to prevent de Villiers from making his mark at any of the World Cups he was due to star in, going back to 2003.
And yet he finished as one of only five Springboks to play more than 100 tests, the country’s most capped centre ever, fourth on South Africa’s all-time list of test appearances, and its fourth highest try-scorer.
‘‘I definitely can’t moan about that,’’ the 34-year-old de Villiers said after being welcomed home to Cape Town by a small bunch of fans, and also kids from his old school, who sang the national anthem for him at the airport arrivals building.
After hugging his wife and two young daughters, de Villiers went along the line of youngsters, shaking hands with each of them.
The departing Boks captain was able to smile at his rotten luck, saying he had processed this latest and final bitter disappointment. ‘‘I sort of knew it immediately once I took the knock to the jaw,’’ he said.
In the bash and crash of international rugby, de Villiers has had far more than his fair share of hurt. He sustained a serious knee injury minutes into his test debut in France in 2002, and it meant him missing the following year’s World Cup.
He damaged his biceps in the Springboks’ opening game in 2007 and that was his tournament done as the Boks went on to win their second world title. In 2011, another World Cup, another injury curtailed his trip to New Zealand.
At the end of last year, his latest serious knee injury required surgery and an eight-month rehabilitation. It was touch and go if he’d make this World Cup.
After a successful comeback, and then also having to recover from a first broken jaw in a test last month, he’d joked that he’d got his injuries out of the way early in this World Cup year. Not so.
Now, de Villiers is moving on quickly: He had an appointment with a facial specialist this week and said he would likely have surgery soon after to insert metal plates on either side of his jaw.
After about a week at home, he expects to return to the World Cup in Britain as a mentor for the younger players on the South African squad.
He’s also not ready to give up all rugby, and said he’ll look for one more stint with an overseas club to finish his career.
‘‘If I do hang up my boots permanently, I want to make sure I’ve had enough and, to be honest, I’m still enjoying it. I reckon I’ll be back on the rugby field.’’ But not at the World Cup. ‘‘There will always be that emptiness, to be honest.’’