Jean de Villiers feated the worst in Cardiff © PA Photos

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Jean de Villiers is happy with the progress he is making from the knee injury he believed initially had ended his career, but he doesn't "want to put a date on" his return as he bids to play for South Africa at the Rugby World Cup.

De Villiers dislocated his left kneecap and tore anterior cruciate knee ligaments in the 58th minute of South Africa's 12-6 loss to Wales at Millennium Stadium in November, sustaining significant ligament damage that required surgery to correct. The Springboks captain was told that he faced eight months on the sidelines to, potentially, continue his horrendous luck with the Rugby World Cup. He sustained a shoulder injury in the final warm-up game prior to the 2003 tournament, sidelining him for eight months, and he missed the Boks' 2007 title run with a biceps injury from his first game of the showpiece. He played in 2011 but South Africa bade farewell in the quarter-finals.

"I have one go at it," de Villiers told Sport 24 in South Africa. "I'm a positive person by nature, and I am motivated as well - I believe if I put my mind to this I can do it … I won't make any promises now, nor will I put a gun to anyone's head, but I know what I can do, can still achieve.

De villiers told Sport 24 that his surgeon and his physiotherapist were "very happy with where I am on the journey as we speak, and so am I", and he said he had no concerns that he would be able to play again relatively quickly because rehabilitation techniques mean "you find you simulate so much of what will happen when you actually take to the field again … by the time you get into a match situation, you really are ready for it".

De Villiers reflected on the injury he sustained in Cardiff, saying "my foot was basically next to my ear … I've definitely had worse injuries pain-wise, but that feeling ... I've played through it in my brain quite often ... you actually have a split second where you just know it's about to happen, and then it does".

"I knew immediately that the cruciate was gone ... immediately," De Villiers told Sport 24.

"But this time around, because of the position I ended up in, I just couldn't give it a second look ... I've re-run it on YouTube several times and the way this (his left) leg was stuck in a weird position, foot very close to ear: my initial thought was that I had done an actual leg break, or physically dislocated my knee."

The Springboks captain feared "it's my last game ever ... it's the end … I thought I wouldn't be playing rugby again. And let's be honest, that may still be the situation. With an injury like this, it's the reality. But in a very short space of time, my emotions and thought processes changed a lot."