Jean de Villiers

Jean de Villiers
Full name	Jean de Viliers
Date of birth	February 24 1981 (1981-02-24) (age 27)
Place of birth	Paarl, South Africa
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	98 kg (220 lb/15.4 st)
Nickname	villi
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

This article is about the rugby player. For the medieval commander, see Jean de Villiers (Grand Master)

Jean de Villiers (born February 24 1981(1981-02-24) 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 past Boks teammate Marius Joubert and current Boks back-row star 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 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. As of November 2005, de Villiers has scored 11 tries in 18 international appearances. He captained the Springboks against the World XV at Ellis Park on 11th June 2006.

External links

• Jean de Villiers at SARugby.co.za

He is notable for his precision timing resulting in interceptions.