Jean de Villiers
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the rugby player. For the medieval commander, see Jean de Villiers (Grand Master)Jean de Villiers (Grand Master)Jean de Villiers was the 22nd Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1285 until 1293.-References:...
Jean de Villiers (born 24 February 1981 in Paarl
Paarl
Paarl is a town with 191,013 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington...
) is a South African rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer. He started his career at wing, but now primarily plays centre. De Villiers plays for Western Province
Western Province (rugby team)
DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...
and internationally for South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
.
A product of Paarl Gimnasium
Paarl Gimnasium
Paarl Gimnasium is a school in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. Rev. van Lingen founded the school in the centre of town in 1858. The school has had a number of significant sporting achievements and has produced some of South Africa's top Rugby players including Ashley Johnson Schalk Burger, Jean...
, the nursery of many a future South Africa (among them past international teammate Marius Joubert
Marius Joubert
Marius Charl Joubert is a South African rugby union player who plays as a centre for ASM Clermont Auvergne in the French Top 14. He has previously played for the Boland Cavaliers, Free State Cheetahs and Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers and the Central Cheetahs in the Super 14...
and current South African back-row star Schalk Burger
Schalk Burger
Schalk Burger Jr. is a South African rugby union player. He plays the position of flanker in the Springbok rugby union team.-Father:...
), de Villiers made his first impact at international level in the South African Sevens
South Africa national rugby union team (sevens)
The South African national rugby union sevens team compete in the World Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.-Current squad:2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series 14-man squad :#Cecil Afrika...
team, playing a major role in teams that finished second in the 2001–02 World Sevens Series and third in the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
. Also in 2002, he made his first international impact in the 15-man game at the U-21 Rugby World Cup, scoring four tries in the tournament for the victorious Junior Springboks.
He made his first senior-level appearance for South Africa in November 2002 against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
, but suffered a major knee injury five minutes into the game. After regaining fitness, he became an important player in the Boks' 2004 renaissance, which saw them earn an unexpected victory in the Tri Nations Series that year. Both he and his former Paarl teammate Joubert earned a share of the try-scoring lead in the 2004 Tri Nations, with three apiece.
De Villers won the World Cup with South Africa in 2007, although he tore his biceps during the opening game of the tournament and took no further part. In 2009 De Villers won a second Tri Nations with South Africa.
Move to Munster
On 20 July 2009, it was announced that de Villiers will leave Western ProvinceWestern Province (rugby team)
DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...
and join Munster
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
from mid-September 2009 on a one-year contract, with an option to renew for another two years. De Villiers's first game for the province was against Newport-Gwent Dragons in the Magners League on Sunday September 27 at Musgrave Park, when he started alongside Lifeimi Mafi in the Munster midfield as a late call-up after Keith Earls was forced withdraw through illness, De Villiers having initially been named on the bench. Munster won 27–3. He scored his first try for Munster in a Heineken Cup tie with Treviso at Thomond Park in October. Munster won the match 41–10 with De Villiers scoring Munster's seventh and final try of the game.He scored his 2nd try against Ulster in the Magners league and 3rd against Perpignan in the Heineken cup.
It was announced on 15 February 2010 that he would leave Munster and return to South Africa at the end of the season. In June 2010 he signed a contract to play for Western Province in the 2010 Currie Cup
2010 Currie Cup Premier Division
-Fixtures and results:* Fixtures are subject to change.* All times are South African .-Round One:-Round Two:-Round Three:-Round Four:-Round Five:-Round Six:...
(although he will miss most of the tournament due to international duties) as well as for the Stormers in the inaugural Super 15 competition
2011 Super 15 season
The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16th season for the Southern Hemisphere's premier...
in 2011.