Jean de Villiers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jean de Villiers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jean de Viliers | ||
| Date of birth | 1981-01-24 | ||
| Place of birth | Paarl, South Africa | ||
| Height | 1.90 m | ||
| Weight | 98 kg | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Position | Centre, wing | ||
| Provincial/State sides | Caps | (points) | |
| 2001-present | Western Province | 33 | (105) |
| correct as of 27 Sept 2006. | |||
| Super Rugby | |||
| 2005-present | Stormers | 10 | (35) |
| correct as of 9 September 2006. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| 2002-present | South Africa | 23 | (55) |
| correct as of 27 Sept 2006. | |||
| Other Information | |||
| School attended | Paarl Gimnasium | ||
Jean de Villiers (born 24 February 1981 in Paarl) is a South African rugby union footballer. He started his career at wing, but now primarily plays centre. De Villiers plays domestically for Western Province, Super 14 for the Stormers, and internationally for the Springboks.
A product of Paarl Gimnasium, the nursery of many a future Springbok (among them current Boks teammates Marius Joubert and Schalk Burger), de Villiers made his first impact at international level in the South African Sevens team, playing a major role in teams that finished second in the 2001-02 World Sevens Series and third in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. 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 the Springboks in November 2002 against France, 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 that year's Tri Nations Series. Both he and his former Paarl teammate Joubert earned a share of the try-scoring lead in the 2004 Tri Nations, with three apiece.
As of November 2005, de Villiers has scored 11 tries in 18 international appearances.
He captained the Springboks that met the World XV at Ellis Park on 11 June 2006.
