Pieter de Villiers (born 3 July 1972 in

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the up ...

, South Africa) is a South African-born French

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and coach. As a player he represented

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at international level and played in two

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

s, and ended his club career with

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

competition in France. A

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, he was renowned for his scrummaging ability.

Playing career

Club level

At the club level, he has had a very successful career, playing on teams that won the

Bouclier de Brennus The Bouclier de Brennus, or Brennus Shield in English, is a trophy awarded to the winners of the French rugby union domestic league. The shield was not named, as it is often believed, after the famous Gallic warrior Brennus but rather artist C ...

as French champions in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2007. In 2003 de Villiers won the Top 14 championship with Stade Français, defeating

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulou ...

32–18 in the final.

International

De Villiers made his debut for France in 1999, on 28 August in a test match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, just prior to the start of the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

. Despite only having the one international cap, De Villers was included in France's World Cup squad. He came on as a replacement in the quarterfinal win over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He also played in the subsequent famous semi-final victory over the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. France made it through to the final, where they met the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

. Australia won 35–12. De Villiers was selected in France's 2000 Six Nations Championship squad, and played in all of France's five matches during the tournament. He also earned another two international caps in November of that year, and was in the starting lineup in the second of two tests against the All Blacks. He cemented his position in the starting lineup, where he played all of the

2001 Six Nations Championship The 2001 Six Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 107th international championship overall. The tournament was affected by an outbreak of the highly infectious livestock disease foot-and- ...

games as well as the June and November test matches. He played for France seven times during 2002. De Villiers played two tests against Argentina and one against the All Blacks in June 2003, but did not play at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia. Stade Français again made it to the final of the French championship, where they defeated

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

38–20, to take the championship. He returned to French squad in time for the

2004 Six Nations Championship The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Overall, this was the 110th series of the international championship. Match wi ...

, as well as playing another three test matches later in the year. He earned 10 international caps for France in 2005, as well as that, Stade Français were finalists at the

2004–05 Heineken Cup The 2004–05 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England national rugby union team, England, France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Italy national rugby unio ...

and French championship, though they lost both. The following season, he won the

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

with France.

Ban due to drug use

In 2003 he was given a short ban for

recreational drug use Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...

after traces of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

and ecstasy were found in a drugs test – he denied knowingly taking drugs but was banned for bringing the game into disrepute.

Retirement

In December 2007, de Villiers suffered a neck injury that sidelined him for a large part of the 2007–08 season. Even after recovering, he had difficulty breaking into the Stade Français squad. On 18 April 2008, he announced his retirement from all rugby, effective at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Coaching career

De Villiers was scrum coach for the South African National Rugby team and was regarded as a trusted aid of previous coach Heyneke Meyer. In December 2019, De Villiers was hired as scrum assistant coach for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was credited with bringing both detail and passion.

Honours

* French Rugby Union Championship/Top 14: 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2003–04

Notes and references

External links

Pieter De Villiers
on sporting-heroes.net
Pieter De Villiers
on statistics.scrum.com

on lequipe.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:De Villiers, Pieter 1972 births Living people People from Malmesbury, Western Cape White South African people South African rugby union players Doping cases in rugby union French rugby union players French sportspeople in doping cases Rugby union props Stade Français Paris players France international rugby union players Rugby union players from the Western Cape