Nigel Yalden: Jean de Villiers - Class and grace to the end

Richie McCaw talks to South Africa captain Jean de Villiers after a 2014 test. Photo / Getty

Opinion

A group of New Zealand journalists are weaving their way through the opulent Palazzo Hotel on the outskirts of Johannesburg heading for a pool side media session with members of the Springboks.

They arrive at the base of a slightly curving marbled staircase and turn left to wander through the dining area and out towards the pool area.

As they do, they hear a familiar South African accented voice to their right.
"Hello lads, good to see you here."

Jean de Villiers walks out of the Springbok team room and greets us all with a broad grin, a hearty handshake and five minutes of thoroughly enjoyable conversation.

He didn't have to that; he chose to.

And that's the sort of bloke he is.

He's just a really, really nice man who loves all aspects of his life including rugby.
On the field, he's a tenacious but fair competitor.

In his pomp, he was a wonderful mix of speed, power and subtly on attack, while defensively as solid as the proverbial.

His calm, measured influence during the All Black team-sheet incident at Ellis Park in October 2013 during that outstanding test match was a testament to doing the right thing for everyone at the ground that night, not just himself and his team.

Off the field, his love and respect of the game and its traditions shines through at every time he speaks.

He does so with intelligence, honesty and passion about the game, his teams and his opposition.

Highlights - South Africa v Samoa

The respect his opponents have for him is mutual, as was beautifully illustrated on the 13th of September last year on the occasion of his 100th test for South Africa.

First it was the glowing words of tribute spoken by All Black captain Richie McCaw when he made an on-field presentation to de Villiers at the end of the test and secondly by Ma'a Nonu leaving his All Black shirt as a memento for his Springbok opposite despite injuring his forearm during the first half of that test and having to leave Westpac Stadium at half time to go for x-rays that would reveal a broken bone.

You don't do that for just anyone.

The fact that he even made to the Rugby World Cup show his determination and dedication.

At 34 years old, fighting back from a horrific knee injury in November last year only to suffer a fractured jaw a month out from the tournament would have been too much for the vast majority to cope with.

However while my admiration for Jean de Villiers is pretty obvious, so too is the truth about his tournament and career ending injury.

It helps South Africa considerably better because it's made a decision that Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer clearly wasn't willing to make himself, most likely out of his intense loyalty to his captain.

To have the best chance of victory at the Rugby World Cup the Springboks need Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in midfield.

In order for that to happen and as much as it pains me to write it, Jean de Villiers needed to be dropped.

While de Villiers play against Samoa was vastly improved from the historic loss to Japan the week prior, the impact of the hard-running yet nimble footed de Allende at second five was undeniable and the way he combined with the uber-impressive Kriel, particularly in the first two games of the Rugby Championship was a clear indictor that the future was actually now.

The end of Jean de Villiers career is an unfitting one for a man who has been a world class performer, an inspirational leader and wonderful ambassador for the sport.

However sport, like life, is not scripted; more is the pity in this case.

But as he has done throughout his stellar career, the man is class and grace to the very end.

"This injury is rugby and I've had my fair share, so by now I know how to cope with them.
"It's very sad, but life goes on - I need to take it all in and move forward."

NIGEL YALDEN IS RADIO SPORTS RUGBY EDITOR AT RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015