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Jean: WP come and get me

Stephen Nell

Cape Town – Come and get me!

That was effectively the message from Jean de Villiers to Western Province when Sport24 asked him about where he would like to continue his career in South Africa.

“It will be difficult for me to pull over any other (provincial) jersey than that of WP and the Stormers,” the Springbok inside centre said in an exclusive interview from Ireland.

De Villiers, who celebrates his 29th birthday on Wednesday, joined Irish provincial side Munster after last year’s Tri-Nations.

He recently decided not to extend his contract with Munster because he wants to represent South Africa at the World Cup in 2011.

His last match in the Northern Hemisphere before returning to South Africa will be for the Barbarians against Ireland on June 4.

The next day he will board a plane – hopefully to Cape Town.

“The Springboks play the weekend after that. I don’t know whether I’ll be in contention for the team,” he said about the Springboks’ fixture against France at Newlands on June 12.

De Villiers has in the meantime instructed his agent to investigate his options in South Africa.

“I will see where I’m needed. Province is where I always played before. It would be the union that I would like to return to. It depends on whether they want me or not,” he said.

“I’d be surprised if we don’t strike a deal. But things have changed. They have moved on and so have I. Hopefully we can get back together.”

De Villiers’s decision to return to South Africa is motivated by his desire to play in the World Cup tournament in New Zealand.

He received a winner’s medal in 2007, but picked up a serious injury in South Africa’s first game against Samoa.

He was also injured in a warm-up game prior to the 2003 tournament.

“When the time came for me to decide whether I should extend my contract with Munster, I asked myself whether I wanted to play in the World Cup,” he said.

“Secondly I had to find out South Africa’s policy on picking overseas-based players.

“The World Cup is so special that I would have regretted it had I not tried to come into the reckoning. I was also told that the policy is quite rigid in terms of only picking players that play their rugby in South Africa.”
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