Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts raised eyebrows at Monday’s media briefing in Cape Town where he said De Villiers could be in the selection frame for the friendly against the World XV at Newlands on Saturday.
The 34-year-old Springbok captain has been out of the game since last November when he tore knee ligaments in a Test against Wales, in Cardiff. “We were really happy with his progress last week,” said Roberts.
“The decision is obviously the coach’s if we’re going to select him this week. “We pulled him out for a tiny bit of the recent training sessions just in terms of volume and work load, but he’s come through really well.
“With Jean we’d ideally like to have him play 20 minutes and build it up and see how his knee responds to the load of playing.” Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer did not, however, give an indication that De Villiers could be running out this week.
“Our medical team worked very hard on the injured players and it’s a great positive to see the guys return,” said Meyer afterwards. “I’m especially pleased for Jean. He worked incredibly hard with the Springbok and WP medical teams to get back to match fitness and we’ve got a plan for how we want to manage his return, which could involve matches for his province as well.”
