Jean De Villiers has admitted that his form was patchy for Munster early in the season but reckons that being put on the bench for Munster’s Heineken Cup games against Perpignan has helped him play better.
The 55-times capped South African international centre has disappointed on occasion since his arrival, struggling to cope during Munster’s 30-0 defeat to Leinster in the Magners League at the beginning of a run of in six defeats in 14 games.
But De Villiers showed his quality against Perpignan, scoring a key try with a superb run through the heart of the French side's defence to get the score that secured the result and set up the bonus point.
He told Munsterrugby.ie: ‘I struggled at the beginning when I arrived in Ireland and my form has been patchy. It didn't help that the team weren't playing well as a unit to begin with.
‘But being dropped to the bench for the two games against Perpignan helped me to turn the corner. Now it's all about digging deep and working hard, but I feel much closer now to where I was as a player before I arrived than when I first started.’
De Villiers lauded the Munster squad for helping him through the tough beginning to his career at the province, and revealed his admiration for Paul O’Connell, the other leaders in the team and the Munster fans.
He said: ‘But all the other players have been fantastic and have really helped me. From a Munster point of view, the Heineken Cup didn't start off in the way we wanted it to with defeat at Northampton. But the back-to-back victories over Perpignan have put us back in charge of our Pool and been the highlights of the campaign so far. Our victory in Perpignan was the best game we have played this season.
‘It was a really strong collective performance a great team effort. It was a performance that revealed a lot to me about the Munster culture. Paul O'Connell is a great leader, but he gets so much support from the other guys around him as well. Then there is Munster's 16th man, their incredible fans.
‘We didn't think we'd have much support in Perpignan, but it was amazing to see, and hear, so many of them in the ground. They really are full-on supporters and they back their team in bad times as well as good.’
De Villiers also admitted that he hadn’t expected to play for the Springboks again after leaving for Ireland, and was delighted to get the call to appear in the ‘momentous’ Ireland v South Africa match, despite losing 15-10.
He said: ‘That is certainly a game I'm never going to forget, even though we lost 15-10. It was great to get the call to play for the Springboks once again, but the real thrill was playing with my old mates against so many of my new Munster team mates.’
Looking ahead, De Villiers is fully focused on claiming Heineken Cup glory with the men in red, and doesn’t expect either of the upcoming two fixtures to be walkovers.
He said: ‘It's now all about getting the right results in the final two fixtures. Going to Treviso and winning won't be an easy task because they have really tightened things up there. Then we have Northampton at home to round things off.’
