Justin Marshall: De Villiers a dual threat
Jean de Villiers has proven his importance to the Springboks - bringing up a century of tests tomorrow night will illustrate that. But what is it about the midfielder's defence and attack makes him such a formidable prospect?
1. Milestone man
There are other guys who have played 100 test - we've got a few in New Zealand - and it's an incredible milestone that shows both talent and a huge amount of determination.
But there's also the other side of rugby, which is off the field, and Jean de Villiers is not only known for what he does on the field but also what a great bloke he is off the field.
Regardless of any situation in the game - win, lose or draw - he makes an effort with the opposition players. He's always very friendly and he never takes the game off the pitch.
That was no more evident than last year at Ellis Park, when the All Blacks had made a huge mistake in signing a teamsheet with a player (Keven Mealamu) who wasn't supposed to be in the squad.
When they came onto the field and the officials had noticed, they called over Jean de Villiers and explained the situation to him.
This was a desperate game for South Africa and he could've quite easily said, 'We're not happy with that - I'm not comfortable with that player being on the field and they've broken the rules'. But instead he took the situation for what it was, made a bit of a light-hearted joke out of it, and just got on with the game.
That speaks volumes and shows why he has that sort of respect among his peers - and why it's fitting he has an opportunity to reach a milestone that not many South African players have managed.
2. His defence
He got to 100 caps because he's such a reliable player and, on defence, he's adjusted his game now. He used to defend at centre and people will remember him from his earlier days at centre, where he got a lot of intercepts. He would predominantly defend from out-to-in, so he would start very wide and then come rushing in.
In the 12 jersey, he defends similarly. He starts himself a little wider than most defensive 12s and he comes up on an out-to-in basis. But from that position he can also adjust.
He's very good laterally, so he can come in and get in the eyeline and cut players off. He can turn in and get them on the inside or, once the ball's moved outside of him, that lateral movement means he's able to cover his outside as well. He moves quite quickly for a big man and the diagram shows the space he can cover by adjusting when the ball is being moved past him.
It just makes him an unpredictable defender. It throws something at the attack all the time and you've got to be aware that he's there. You have to be very careful of where you attack, because he can shut you down and cause big problems.
3. His attack
De Villiers starts a little deeper as a 12. He's probably adjusted his game from playing with Morne Steyn and first fives who play slightly deeper in South Africa, where they traditionally don't play as flat as New Zealand first fives.
So de Villiers adjusts his depth accordingly, and his big strength is his timing. He's got such great timing when punching onto the ball from depth, he hits gaps and he's gone before the opposition can get to him.
He's a big guy - over six foot and over 100 kg - so when he gets his timing right it's hard to pick him up. He hits the ball at such pace and, with that lateral footwork, it makes him very difficult to actually tackle and get to the ground. You also don't often see him get knocked backwards - he's really committed to his lines and he's hard to pull down because of that timing, not just because he's big.
The good thing about Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu is they're a combination that has worked a lot together. Defensively, the know each other's preferences, but they will be very well aware of what de Villiers does.
They've played enough times against him and they'll just start slightly narrower and try to prevent him having the opportunity to get all three angles - on the inside, the outside, or straight. If they start tighter they can, to a degree, manipulate where they want him to go.
