Jean de Villiers (Gallo Images)

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Cape Town - WP Rugby on Tuesday announced that Springbok centre Jean de Villiers has returned to the Newlands fold and will be available for Currie Cup and Super 15 duty until the end of the 2011 season.

De Villiers spent the past year with the Irish outfit Munster but has decided to return to South Africa with the intention of securing a place in the Springbok squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The announcement was made by WP's Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus and MD of WP Rugby (Pty) Ltd Rob Wagner at the High Performance Centre in Bellville.

The other big scoop for the union was the acquisition of prop CJ van der Linde who has just returned to South Africa after a two-year stint in Ireland with Leinster.

He will be playing for the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup competition until the end of the year, and then takes up a one-year contact with Province for the 2011 season.

The Fiji-born wing Sireli Naqelevuki has parted ways with Newlands after his contract came to an end. He has returned to Fiji and has been named in his country's national team to play Japan over the weekend.

He produced some excellent performances during the Super 14 season and some European clubs have shown interest in him.

Flyhalf Peter Grant will not be around for the Currie Cup season as he has been given leave to play in Japan.

Despite several excellent performances for the Stormers this year, Grant has not found favour with Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and was overlooked for recent Springbok squads.

Grant will, however, return to Cape Town for the Super 15 season next year.