All Blacks: Wallace Sititi hails ‘quality’ Springboks rookie and reveals the Stormers strengths which they are wary of
Springboks back-row Paul de Villiers (inset) and All Blacks counterpart Wallace Sititi.
All Blacks back-row Wallace Sititi has sung the praises of Springboks counterpart Paul de Villiers and highlighted where he expects the Stormers to test his team on Friday.
New Zealand kick off their six-week tour against the Stormers at the DHL Stadium, and Sititi is relishing the opportunity of taking on John Dobson’s charges.
One player who proved to be a sensation for the men from the Cape during the 2025/26 season is young openside flanker De Villiers and his excellent form has been rewarded with a call-up to the Springboks squad.
After an impressive cameo off the bench for South Africa in Gqeberha against the Barbarians, De Villiers made his Test debut in last month’s Nations Championship victory over England in Johannesburg.
Late replacement for Siya Kolisi
He emptied the tank during a 46-minute stint and what made his performance more remarkable is the fact that he was a late addition to the world champions’ starting line-up for that clash after regular Boks skipper Siya Kolisi was a late withdrawal due to injury.
De Villiers retained his starting position in the Boks’ run-on side and also shone in their other Nations Championship Tests against Scotland and Wales.
Sititi certainly took notice of the Springboks rookie and was impressed with what he has seen of him.
“Big boy,” he told reporters at an All Blacks training session in Cape Town on Monday. “He loves the collision battle. Good over the ball. He’s a quality footy player.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to see him a couple of times throughout this tour.”
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De Villiers unlikely to play for the Stormers
De Villiers won’t turn out for the Stormers against the All Blacks on Friday as he is one of 12 Springboks who remained at the national team’s base in Johannesburg while the rest of the squad flew out to Buenos Aires for their Test against Argentina on Saturday.
Despite his absence from the Stormers squad, Sititi expects a tough challenge from his opponents.
“They’re a big pack, that is what we know,” he said of the Stormers.
“But they are a big forward pack that loves to run the ball, loves the collision battle, so we’ve got to respect them up front.
“They love to use the ball as well, so we’ve got to be able to match them up front.
“We want to give our backs out wide all the opportunities they want.”
