de Villiers Eager To Make His Mark With Munster

Tri Nations winner Jean de Villiers touched down at Cork Airport this morning, looking surprisingly fresh after what has been a few hectic days for him.

Click here to listen to Jean de Villiers’ first press conference as a Munster player.

He told waiting reporters: “I got back home from New Zealand on Monday with just enough time to pack my bags for the trip here.

“But I’m feeling fine and looking forward to the season ahead and trying to make a contribution to this Munster squad.”

The South African centre was met at Cork Airport by Munster team manager Shaun Payne and operations manager Bryan Murphy, before joining Chief Executive Garrett Fitzgerald in the Cork International Hotel for a media briefing.

Questioned about his fitness after a long Super 14 and Tri Nations campaign, de Villiers said: “I haven’t really had that long a season because I was injured early on and missed the early games in the Super 14.

“So really the remainder of that campaign and the Tri Nations has been my pre-season, so I’m pretty happy with my fitness.”

de Villiers was later taken by Payne to Limerick where he will be based and where the regulatory fitness/medical tests will be conducted tomorrow.

He should be out for his first squad training session next week, with the prospect of featuring in the matchday squad for Munster’s Magners League clash with the Dragons in Cork on Sunday, September 27.