After two rounds of intense Vodacom United Rugby Championship Derby action, Jean de Villiers says it still gives him goosebumps to see how local rugby fans responded to the best South African players throwing everything at each other.

When De Villiers was asked whether it still makes him emotional to see the kind of sell-out crowd that turned up at Loftus Versfeld to watch the North-South Derby between the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers last weekend, his response was an emphatic, “Big time!”

“It was great to see that at Loftus. It shows that South African rugby is healthy in terms of its supporter base, but also how the supporters turn up when you have your best teams on the field. You had pretty much full-strength Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers teams, and when fans can relate to the players and know then they’ll turn up like they did.

“We saw it a couple of weekends ago when the DHL Stormers played the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban. A team that’s been losing managed to get a very good crowd for that game because of the quality on display.

“It also has a definite influence on you as a player. When you’re the home team and you see your people come out and support you, it creates a really magical feeling in you as a player. Conversely, if you are able to step into an environment like that and put the host team under pressure and turn the crowd, there is also power within that. But it remains special. You’re performing in front of thousands of people and you get energy from doing that.”

De Villiers said he believes the Vodacom Bulls owed their supporters that victory and it’s now up to the Pretoria team to ride this momentum all the way to the final.

“I think the Vodacom Bulls repaid their supporters in getting that win. Their fans definitely turned up to support their team and help them get over the line, and I think this win was their reward. It’s good to see the Vodacom Bulls up there on the log now, and you almost want them to go with it now and see whether there’s a possibility of them finishing first. I still believe the DHL Stormers will get into the top eight and be in a playoff situation. But to really stake a claim for this competition, home playoffs will be so important because it will be difficult to beat a Leinster team playing at home.”

Issued by Micheal Vlismas Media