Paul de Villiers has dismissed any suggestion that Siya Kolisi's return to the Stormers next season poses a challenge to his own position, instead framing the double World Cup-winning captain's arrival as an invaluable chance to develop his game.
The 23-year-old openside flanker, who enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in the United Rugby Championship, is poised to make his senior Springbok debut against the Barbarians in Gqeberha this weekend. De Villiers finished the season with 19 turnovers, 209 tackles, seven tries and four consecutive Player of the Match awards, establishing himself as one of the competition's most effective loose forwards.
Speaking at a press briefing in Johannesburg, De Villiers said: "It is another opportunity to learn. He is a great player and a great captain. It is a big opportunity to learn from his game, but also from his leadership. Competition is always good, especially in your position."
The former Junior Springbok captain added that his focus remained on absorbing knowledge from Kolisi rather than worrying about selection battles. "My focus is on what I can gain from it. He is a great person, a very nice guy, and I am really looking forward to playing with him at the Stormers and seeing what I can learn from him," De Villiers said.
During the same briefing, De Villiers addressed comparisons to Heinrich Brussow, acknowledging the influence of the former Springbok scavenger. "It is hard to single out guys, but yes, I watched a lot of Brussow's games and I definitely learned something from how he tackled the breakdown," he said. The Oakdale product, however, resisted being labelled purely as a fetcher, a term that has historically divided opinion in South African rugby circles.