South Africa Captain Jean De Villiers Ruled Out Of World Cup

September 27, 2015

South Africa captain Jean de Villiers has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup with a fractured jaw.

Centre De Villiers, 34, sustained the injury in South Africa's 46-6 win over Samoa on Saturday.

Jan Serfontein has been called up to replace 109-times capped De Villiers.

"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," said South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer.

"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."

De Villiers also skippered South Africa in their first match of the tournament, in which they were shocked by Japan.

Jesse Kriel and Damian De Allende are the other centres already in the Springbok squad.

(BBC)