THE SOUTH AFRICAN Rugby Union has confirmed that Jean de Villiers fractured his jaw during the Springboks’ shock defeat to Argentina yesterday, ruling their captain out for four to six weeks.
With just 40 days until the World Cup begins, it leaves the 34-year-old centre in a race to be fit for South Africa’s Pool B opener against Japan.
While the Boks do say that de Villiers will be able to complete “the bulk of the training sessions” during his recovery from the fracture, this latest injury issue comes at the worst possible time for him.
The cruelty for de Villiers is that he has just completed a nine-month comeback from a horrific knee injury sustained against Wales last November, after which he was forced to undergo six bouts of surgery and a gruelling schedule of rehabilitation.
Yesterday was the former Munster midfielder’s first start for the Boks since that shocking injury in the Welsh match. His return was an unhappy one as his side were beaten by an excellent Argentinian effort, with de Villiers’ fractured jaw compounding the pain.
Youngsters Damien de Allende and Jesse Kriel had impressed as a midfield pairing in de Villiers’ absence during the previous Rugby Championship rounds against New Zealand and Australia, and may now be reunited next weekend in Buenos Aires as the Boks face the Pumas again.
Kriel was moved to the wing to make room for de Villiers at outside centre yesterday.
South Africa also say that flanker Marcel Coetzee will be missing for approximately six weeks with a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee, another blow as they prepare for the World Cup.
Fullback Willie le Roux sprained an ankle in Durban yesterday and “will undergo scans early in the week to determine the exact nature of the injury,” according to a SARU statement.
The reaction to yesterday’s defeat to Argentina has been strong in South Africa, with some supporters even suggesting that head coach Heyneke Meyer is not the man to lead the Boks forwards.
Meyer’s men were beaten in all three of their Rugby Championship games this year, losing to New Zealand and Australia late on in both of those games.
