MAGNERS LEAGUE LEINSTER v MUNSTER:'RUGBY IS such a small part of your life," Jean de Villiers explains, leaning back into the creaky wooden chair and gazing out the window as a few track athletes go through the motions on a fine autumn afternoon at Limerick's university campus.
The South African is talking us through what motivated him to abandon his established and feted role in the best international side in the world for what promises to be a freezing wet, if possibly glorious winter wearing the famous red of Munster.
De Villiers is 28: young in life but crossroads territory for any professional sportsman. The best way of describing the sudden swap of Cape Town for Limerick is it’s a calculated gamble. That it was something he had to do to assuage an internal restlessness is closer to the truth.
“Rugby is one phase of your life and you need to enjoy it, to make what you can of it and then when it is done, to have no regrets. And I knew that if I finished my career without making this move, I would regret it.
“It was a tough decision. But I have always wanted to come play in the Northern Hemisphere and to hopefully experience something different – while at the top of my game. That was the important thing.”
There can be no question that Munster have acquired de Villiers at a perfect time. Marquee signings come loaded with risk: a few seasons back, Munster contracted what proved to be the ghost of the splendid Christian Cullen, the rampant All-Blacks fullback who was plagued with mounting injuries during his Irish adventure.
De Villiers has had a rough time with injury, missing both the 2003 World Cup and suffering fresh misfortune during the pool stages of the 2007 tournament; he watched the Springboks’ steady course to the Webb Ellis trophy from home.
But he rebounded to capture the South African Player of the Year award in 2008 and his strength and versatility were in full evidence in June during the tumultuous Lions series.
All through that memorable and bruising trilogy of games, de Villiers was seriously contemplating moving north and he recalls that, after the third Test, when the players got to socialise (briefly), Ronan O’Gara approached him and offered a few friendly words.
“That was great. The Lions was so important to me because even though I have a World Cup medal back home, I never really felt that I contributed to winning it because I got injured so early on. So it was great to win the Lions series but the one thing I was disappointed with was that we didn’t get to mingle more with the Lions players.
“I suppose the intensity of the rivalry contributed to that but circumstances never allowed for it either. Even after that third Test, we were in different hotels so we had to leave early to get a bus, that kind of thing. I believe it is something that they should look at because isn’t that what it is suppose to be about, essentially?
“You play it tough on the field as much as you can but, afterwards, you need to be able to look a guy in the eye and have a drink. So Ronan coming over to say hello, having a chat was great, particularly given that I was thinking of coming here.”
As training ended on Wednesday afternoon, O’Gara and de Villiers stood together in the fading sunshine and talked as Paul Warwick landed penalties at the far end of the field. A scattering of students had watched the Munster men run through their plays. But it is striking, when you consider the bedlam that has accompanied Munster’s all-conquering days, how accessible the players remain.
The gorgeous weather probably contributed to the generally high mood – Jerry Flannery had earlier drawn warm guffaws for making the mistake of stumbling as he took the ball into contact and all through the session Tony McGahan made a promise familiar to teams all over Ireland: ‘One more time, boys, and we’ll get some water.’
Prior to de Villiers’ arrival in Ireland, the last time he would have seen O’Gara on a field was in the hallucinogenic moments after that second Test, when the Springboks had clinched victory. In the last 20 minutes, the South Africans had fairly battered the Ireland number 10 and, for all the triumphs in O’Gara’s career, that was a tough afternoon.
“And I haven’t allowed him to forget that either,” de Villiers smiles pleasantly.
“No, I am enjoying his company. Right there, we were just talking about my views of the game; maybe my approach being a bit more conservative than his, being from the background that I come from.
“Not saying that one is right and one is wrong but getting that understanding is vital. I need to get into his head a bit and see how he thinks about the game. It makes it so much easier going into games.”
Part of the attraction for de Villiers of moving north lay in the change of culture. His path into elite rugby began at an early age, when he enrolled at the fabled Paarl Gimnasium in Cape Town, now established as a nursery for the many of the most gifted schoolboys in the Western Cape but still rooted in the Dutch-Christian tradition set by its founders back in the late 1850s.
De Villiers speaks glowingly of his days there, not only because of the rugby rivalry against Paarl Boys but also because of the influence it had on his development.
Although he was fast-tracked through the South African underage scene, making his Springboks senior debut at 21, he was not blind to the rougher paths that lay ahead for other Cape Town kids of his generation.
“South Africa can be a very demanding place for someone growing up,” he admits. “There is a lot going on there. I know that all countries probably feel like that but South Africa . . . . it has come a long way from where we were in the isolation years and apartheid. But my generation and the following generation of kids grew up without that.
“A school like Paarl Gimnasium teaches you the basics of what you need to be a good person – basic manners, I suppose. They do have fantastic coaches and they do make sport a priority and winning is emphasised but just participation is the big thing there. It is a place that what you learn there does stand you in good stead.
“In Cape Town now, there is a big cheap drug problem. This thing called tik, crystal meth, has just taken hold of so many kids and like any addiction, once you are on it, it is tough to get off. So putting things in place for kids to make the right decision is more important than ever. And that is what they teach you at Paarl.”
De Villiers played on the Paarl, Western Cape and South African U-18 sides with his brother Andre but he shakes his head when asked if the older boy pursued a life in rugby.
“He was a prop,” he laughs, as though that explains everything. “No, what happened was he hurt his shoulder in a car accident and that ended that. He still plays in Cape Town for fun.”
But de Villiers’ career has been significantly beset by injury: he suffered his first major setback just five minutes into his Springboks debut against France in 2002. That made him appreciate at a young age that for all his physical strength and athleticism, nobody is impervious to injury. It also made him more keenly aware of the brevity of one’s sporting life and so his wish to try the rugby life in this part of the world was not something he could ignore. It does not come without risk.
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has stated publicly he wishes to choose from home-based players. Before his move became public knowledge, he sat down with his namesake.
“His response initially was that he didn’t want me to go. But then he said he would support me and told me to enjoy it. But he respected that this is where I am in my career and wished me luck.”
De Villiers left on a perfect note, scoring a try in the 32-29 Tri Nations victory over the All-Blacks in Hamilton that confirmed the title for the Springboks. Forty-eight hours later, he was crossing the equator in an aeroplane. “I unpacked a bag and then repacked it and left,” he says.
A few days later, he showed up for his first Munster training session. He will live in Limerick for the season but has had little time to find out anything about the city other than where the training ground and stadium is.
Munster’s weekly training session in the University of Limerick gave him his first example of how the Irish club rejects all airs and graces. Between sessions, they eat in the same canteen as the students and stand in line for their food. It is a strange sight, seeing some of the elite players in the game standing behind a bunch of kids debating the curry or the shepherd’s pie. De Villiers grins happily.
“Yeah, it is unusual. But whatever works. I don’t think you will see that in a lot of places. But then it is something that a lot of clubs have lost, that sense of history and heritage that comes with being a team and Munster have done particularly well to carry that through.”
An historian of the game in South Africa, he confesses to having a rudimentary knowledge of Munster culture but it is a subject he intends pursuing over the long winter. His parents are due to visit around Christmas and may travel to the Perpignan match.
The dramatic climate change and the visits to the bastions of European rugby are part of what has drawn de Villiers to Munster.
He nods at the thought of those five o’clock Thomond kick-offs, the sky darkening and the weather filthy and he still cannot get his head around the St Stephen’s Day matches.
“Most Christmases, I am on the beach,” he chuckles.
He has yet to fine-tune his ear to the nuances of the Cork accent but hopes he is getting better and enthuses about the flair – and the international dimension – of the Munster back division.
De Villiers is a rugby veteran but he is delighted to have placed himself at the heart of something new. It is a blank slate; he could probably scribble what he knows about Irish rugby on a beer mat. But he had the curiosity to come here to find out. When he turns out the light tonight, he will probably have a clearer picture of what lies ahead – whatever happens, it is going to be interesting.
