Western Province coach John Dobson says Jean de Villiers will soon be ready for Test rugby after he played 80 minutes against the EP Kings last Saturday.

Province beat the Kings 21-18 in a friendly match in PE, with De Villiers playing 60 minutes at centre and then 20 on the wing. That followed a 60-minute appearance by the Bok captain against the Pumas in another friendly.

'By Jean's admission, he's still got a bit to go [to get back to his best] Dobson told the Cape Argus. 'The [Bok] plan was always for him to play against Argentina and if he keeps improving at this rate he will be ready for Test rugby.

'To be brutally honest, if you watched the game [against EP] you wouldn't think “this is a world-leading centre”. But every week is such that next week he could be at that level.'

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