SOUTH Africa’s resounding victory over Samoa has come at a price, with captain Jean de Villiers being ruled out of the World Cup with a broken jaw. Several other players, among them de Villiers’ centre partner Damian de Allende, were less seriously injured during Saturday’s 46-6 win at Villa Park. Jan Serfontein, the Bulls captain, has been called up to replace De Villiers and will join up with the Springboks squad in Newcastle on Monday.
De Villiers' withdrawal from the squad was made public on Sunday morning, and later in the day he announced that he had retired from international rugby. “Jean is not only our captain and one of the most experienced players in the squad, but he is also the glue of this team and to lose him is very sad,” South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said. “We are all very heart-broken for him and we will miss his influence a lot.”
De Villiers broke the right side of his jaw towards the end of the Samoa match. His participation in the World Cup was jeopardised when he broke the left side against Argentina in August, but he recovered in time to lead the time in their shock defeat by Japan in their first Pool B game.
“Jean has fought back from all his injuries and this is the kind of character and fighting spirit we will need to show going forward in this competition,” Meyer added. “While this is a huge and emotional setback for the team, we will now have to regroup and refocus before we start our preparations for Saturday’s match against Scotland.”
The South Africans were back to their best against Samoa, withstanding a physical onslaught to run in six tries. JP Pietersen scored a hat-trick, while the other touchdowns were from his fellow-winger Bryan Habana, No 8 Schalk Burger and replacement prop Schalk Brits. Handre Pollard was successful with four penalties and a conversion, and substitute Pat Lambie also added a conversion. Samoa’s only scores were two Mike Stanley penalties.
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