The Stormers from Cape Town will take on the New Zealand Conference-leading Blues on Friday in Auckland without three of their key back line players.

Injuries have ruled out key Springbok trio Peter Grant (ankle), Jean de Villiers (groin) and Jaque Fourie (chest) of Friday’s Super Rugby crunch fixture.

Grant and Fourie are expected to be fit for next week’s match against the Brumbies while De Villiers is consulting a specialist to determine the severity of his injury.

Subsequently, Lionel Cronje will start at flyhalf and Juan de Jongh and young Johann Sadie will form an all-new midfield combination with Danie Poolman, who joined the squad earlier in the week, coming onto a five-two split bench.

“Sadie is an out-an-out 13 and can also cover wing, whilst Juan can play both 12 and 13,” said coach Allister Coetzee.

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Jean de Villiers is back at the Western Province with a bang and he showed his years of experience in the final match before the knockout stages of the Currie Cup against the Sharks. Western Province won the match 33 – 21 to secure a home semi-final. Have a look at some of the highlights of De Villiers’ performance.

Springbok Jean De Villiers has been suspended for two weeks following a spear tackle on All Blacks debutant Rene Ranger. De Villiers was cited following the 31-17 loss the Tri Nations second test in Wellington.
Check out the video below:

Source: rugbydump.com

Springbok centre Jean de Villiers has been signed by Western Province and Stormers and will be available for the Currie Cup this year already.

De Villiers spent the past year with the Irish outfit Munster but has decided to return to South Africa with the intention of securing a place in the Springbok squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The announcement was made by WP’s Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus and MD of WP Rugby (Pty) Ltd Rob Wagner at the High Performance Centre in Bellville.

The other big scoop for the union was the acquisition of prop CJ van der Linde who has just returned to South Africa after a two-year stint in Ireland with Leinster.

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Springbok centre Jean de Villiers will miss the Test against Wales in Cardiff on June the 5th due to a shoulder injury.

De Villiers was to partner Bath flyhalf Butch James in the team which contained only a handful of Stormers and Bulls players for the one-off game abroad. His place would be taken by Springbok and Stormers centre Jaque Fourie, De Villiers’ regular partner over the past year.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers broke the news on Kyknet’s SuperRugby on Monday night, calling it a “setback” for the team. De Villiers said the test was the “perfect opportunity to have a look at a number of players ahead of the 2011 World Cup.”

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Springbok centre Jean de Villiers‘ international career will be terminated after this year’s Tri-Nations tournament when he joins Munster in Ireland.

The Springbok inside centre was in sparkling form when South Africa opened the overseas leg of their Tri-Nations account with a five point, 32-25 win over Australia in Perth last week.

Bryan Habana praised the No.12′s performance for the first of his two tries, saying pressure from De Villiers on Australia’s defence from an up and under kick by scrumhalf Fourie du Preez had enabled him to snatch a loose ball and race through to score.

There has, however, been some conjecture over whether De Villiers would join Munster immediately after the Tri-Nations or at the end of the Currie Cup season.

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Springbok and Stormers centre Jean de Villiers will only partake in Super 14 rugby again next year.

De Villiers was forced off the field with a groin injury early on in his side’s defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.

Scans taken on Monday revealed that the Stormers captain will be out for four to six weeks, meaning that he unlikely to play any rugby before the Test series against the British and Irish Lions starting mid-June.

The news of De Villiers’ injury comes at a most unwelcome time for the struggling Stormers as lock Adriaan Fondse has a broken wrist, ruling him out for will be out for eight to twelve weeks, and Gcobani Bobo is suffering with an ankle.

The Stormers play their final tour game against the Highlanders in Dunedin this week before returning to South Africa for matches against the Chiefs, Western Force and Cheetahs.

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