“I thought I may be dropped,” said the 34-year-old centre who survived the axe and will play against Samoa at Villa Park on Saturday in a team showing eight changes from the side stunned 34-32 by Japan in their opening World Cup Pool B game.
“I’m also aware of the criticism that the coach is under for saving me. I’m grateful for the opportunity I get to play again and I have a responsibility now to perform on the field,” De Villiers told a news conference on Friday.
But questions about De Villiers reportedly ignoring Heyneke Meyer’s instructions during last Saturday’s match in Brighton were deflected. “Sometimes messages get lost in the chain and sometimes we will disagree on calls," he said.
"Sometimes the coach makes the call, sometimes I have the freedom to make them. But there was no case of totally disregarding the coach. He is ultimately the boss.
“A lot of speculation comes with a loss like we had and a lot of people want to find fault with the way we do things.”
De Villiers, who suffered a serious knee injury last year and broke his jaw in August, said the last week had been the toughest of his career.
“It’s these challenges that make sport so interesting," he said. "We need to play smarter against Samoa but we have a clear plan of how to do it.
“We are certainly feeling the pressure. We know how important rugby is for our country. What is disappointing is to see how a loss like we had against Japan threatens to break the country apart. We have a responsibility to rectify that.”
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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