South Africa captain Jean De Villiers out of rest of Rugby World Cup
Sunday 27 September 2015 11:33, UK
South Africa captain Jean de Villiers will miss the rest of the Rugby World Cup after it was confirmed he fractured his jaw against Samoa.
De Villiers was injured in Saturday's match, which the Springboks won 46-6, although the fracture is on the other side of his jaw to the one he suffered against Argentina in Durban last month.
Jan Serfontein has been called up and will join the squad in Newcastle on Monday but coach Heyneke Meyer is yet to make a decision on who will take over the captaincy.
Meyer admits losing De Villiers is a tough blow and he hopes the rest of the squad will rally around ahead of their pivotal clash with Scotland.
"Jean is not only our captain and one of the most experienced players in the squad, but he is also the glue of this team and to lose him is very sad," Meyer told sarugby.co.za.
"After injuring his knee last November in Cardiff, he worked incredibly hard to get back to full fitness and the plans worked out perfectly, but rugby is a physical sport and injuries happen.
"We are all very heart-broken for him and we will miss his influence a lot. He has been very unlucky with injuries, but his character clearly showed when he had to go back on the field when Jesse Kriel picked up an injury.
"Jean has fought back from all his injuries and this is the kind of character and fighting spirit we will need to show going forward in this competition.
"While this is a huge and emotional set-back for the team, we will now have to regroup and refocus before we start our preparations for Saturday's match against Scotland."
