Jean de Villiers

Career

De Villiers emerged from Paarl Gimnasium, a school that produced future Springboks such as Marius Joubert and Schalk Burger. He first gained international notice in the South African Sevens team, playing in ten of the eleven legs of the 2001–02 World Sevens Series and helping his country finish second overall; he was also part of the squad that placed third at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. That same year he played for the Junior Springboks at the U-21 Rugby World Cup, scoring four tries as they won the tournament.

He made his senior debut for South Africa in November 2002 against France but tore a knee ligament five minutes into the match. After recovering, he became a key figure in the Springboks' 2004 resurgence, which included an unexpected Tri Nations Series victory; he and Joubert shared the competition's try-scoring lead with three each. De Villiers was part of the 2007 World Cup–winning squad, though he tore his biceps in the opening match and took no further part.

He won a second Tri Nations in 2009. In November 2014, while playing Wales in Cardiff, he dislocated his left knee and tore major ligaments; reconstruction with artificial ligaments and rehabilitation allowed him to return. He captained South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup but fractured his jaw in the second match and was ruled out of the tournament.