{"id":496161,"date":"2026-03-26T09:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496161\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:43:13","slug":"the-massive-threat-jean-de-villiers-has-seen-to-springboks-world-cup-three-peat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496161\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘massive threat’ Jean de Villiers has seen to Springboks’ World Cup three-peat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Springboks legend Jean de Villiers believes that they will face a significant challenge to retain their Rugby World Cup title following the end of the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

In a thrilling competition, France lifted the trophy, snatching it from Ireland\u2019s grasp following a last-gasp victory over England in the finale.<\/p>\n

It is therefore not a surprise that those two teams caught De Villiers\u2019<\/a> eye during the Six Nations<\/a>, with the former captain particularly impressed by the quality of Les Bleus.<\/p>\n

French quality and depth<\/p>\n

\u201cFrance<\/a> are a massive threat for South Africa<\/a> purely because of the depth that they are creating within their squad,\u201d he told The Rugby Pod.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe carriers that they have, the pack they are able to put on the park, the physicality that they bring plus the flair that you have from the backs\u2026 that\u2019s quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill a question mark around their scrum and I think that\u2019s where South Africa go, \u2018there\u2019s still an area where we feel we can get proper dominance\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

After winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups, the Springboks are going for an unprecedented three-peat, but there are plenty of countries who could throw a spanner in the works.<\/p>\n

Even at the last global tournament, they had to overcome a defeat by Ireland in the group stages to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland has always been our bogey team. Call it for the last 20 years or so, Ireland has been our bogey team and we\u2019ve struggled against them. We\u2019ll always be cognisant of what the Irish can do,\u201d De Villiers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, this time around, not having [Andrew] Porter, not having [Tadhg Furlong, no Mack Hansen, no Hugo Keenan, they looked a big fragile at the start of the comp, but then once a Baloucoune and a McCloskey came through, they were tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jean de Villiers: The one player the Springboks cannot afford to lose otherwise \u2018we\u2019re in trouble\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Although De Villiers also stated that he\u2019s \u201calways wary of England\u201d, they remained on the subject of South Africa\u2019s record against Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Springboks did comfortably defeat Andy Farrell\u2019s men in the 2025 November series but, before that, the Irishmen had won four of the previous five meetings.<\/p>\n

Even going back to 2004 \u2013 the Boks have claimed three World Cups since then \u2013 Ireland have won nine of their 15 encounters.<\/p>\n

November success a \u2018massive statement\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why we\u2019ve struggled against them traditionally,\u201d De Villiers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the performance of the Boks in November last year was a massive statement. Points-wise there wasn\u2019t that big a difference but the way in which the South African pack demolished the Irish pack, that was a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe previously we weren\u2019t able to do that. Maybe the Irish were able to outsmart us in the way that they play, get around our defensive system and then have some trick plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a clever bunch and I think they\u2019ve gone through a period where they\u2019ve had a really strong team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou play against a quality team and if you\u2019re a little bit off, you lose the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rivalry has built between the two nations as a result of Ireland\u2019s record and their rise to the top of the World Rugby rankings, which they held heading into the 2023 World Cup, and De Villiers believes it has been good for the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cRivalry is great and it only gets created when it\u2019s quality versus quality, when there is a sense of respect because you want to beat the opposition because you know they\u2019re really good,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is animosity but I\u2019ve got a great love for Ireland because of the time I spent there. I adopt them as my second country if anything, but it has become a big fixture whenever South Africa plays Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does that create? It creates interest and that\u2019s what we want for the game of rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Schalk Burger\u2019s hilarious warning to Henry Pollock after Duane Vermeulen compares England star to Springboks legend<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Springboks legend Jean de Villiers believes that they will face a significant challenge to retain their Rugby World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[309,819,348,3482,2274,47413,50,5903,43326,4247,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-496161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-england","tag-france","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-ireland","tag-jean-de-villiers","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-six-nations","tag-south-africa","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}