Fit De Villiers to lead Springboks against Pumas

Jean de Villiers continues his amazing recovery from a career-threatening injury when he leads South Africa against Argentina on Saturday in the Rugby Championship.

The 34-year-old centre had a knee reconstructed after a horrific injury in Wales last November and played off the bench for the Springboks in an exhibition match last month.

He continued his comeback with two appearances for his province while South Africa suffered narrow southern hemisphere championship losses to Australia and world champions New Zealand.

Coach Heyneke Meyer got a thumbs-up from team doctors this week regarding De Villiers and chose him to partner Damian de Allende at centre for the Kings Park stadium Test against the Pumas in Durban.

De Villiers starts at outside centre rather than his traditional inside centre slot, but that will not matter to a star desperate to prove his fitness ahead of the mid-September Rugby World Cup kick-off.

"The comeback of Jean is truly remarkable and very inspirational," Meyer told the media after announcing his team in the Indian Ocean city of Durban.

"I cannot wait to see what he has to offer playing next to youngsters like Damian, Jesse Kriel and Handre Pollard.
"Jean now has 160 minutes of rugby behind him since his comeback a month ago and I am satisfied that he will be able to make his mark as a player and captain."

The matchday 23 for the clash with the Pumas shows eight changes -- seven personnel and one positional -- to that which lost 27-20 to New Zealand in Johannesburg two Saturdays ago.

De Villiers, tighthead prop Vincent Koch and flanker Marcell Coetzee come into the team for winger Cornal Hendricks and an injured duo, prop Jannie du Plessis and loose forward Francois Louw.

Kriel, who has gone from fringe player to regular starter since being called up to the squad for the first time this season, moves from outside centre to the right wing to accommodate De Villiers.

Left winger Lwazi Mvovo, tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe, lock Pieter-Steph du Toit and flanker Siya Kolisi are called up to the bench.

The quartet replace Lionel Mapoe, Koch, Flip van der Merwe and injured Warren Whiteley for the final-round Championship clash.

Meyer said star scrum-half Fourie du Preez and flanker Willem Alberts were considered for selection after lengthy injury absences, but the coach opted to give them more recovery time.

"They are not 100 percent ready yet so we decided against risking them in this match," the coach said.

South Africa and Argentina are seeking a first Championship win of the season after both lost to Australia and New Zealand last month.

Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade will announce his starting line-up and replacements late Thursday.

Team (15-1)

Willie le Roux; Jesse Kriel, Jean de Villiers (capt), Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana; Handre Pollard, Ruan Pienaar; Schalk Burger, Marcell Coetzee, Heinrich Brussow; Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth; Vincent Koch, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Marcel van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Cobus Reinach, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo

Coach: Heyneke Meyer
Source: AFP