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The awkward moment Willemse reminded he can't get ahead of himself
Damian Willemse hasn’t known anything like it so far in his embryonic Test level career with the Springboks. He made a Test debut as a 20-year-old in 2018 but it hasn’t been until now that his face has properly fitted into his country’s selection plans, the utility back getting chosen to play in all six of their most recent matches – once as a starter at full-back and the rest as backline bench cover.
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It’s a run of regular appearances in stark contrast to what has gone before, intermittent use in his breakthrough season followed by some harsh lessons the following year where he only made the World Cup squad as a mid-tournament injury call-up, going on to play just a single match – the easy-street win over Canada.
Now, though, the value of Willemse to the Springboks is considerably altered. New head coach Jacques Nienaber certainly likes the cut of his jib, including him in all of the Test match 23s announced since the start of July. And yet, the reminders of not getting too far ahead of himself are never too far away for Willemse.
There he was on the virtual media briefing link on Friday from the Gold Coast, replying to a question posed by RugbyPass about his increased value to the Springboks, when assistant coach Mzwandile Stick interrupted to remind him he still can’t be sure of his place in the current pecking order. “If you make the squad of 23,” interjected the backs coach mid-sentence.
A smile eventually accompanied the spontaneous interruption but all the same, it was a subtle shot across the bows of Willemse, a reminder that the 23-year-old must become an expert in his versatile role if he is to continue to figure in Nienaber’s Springboks selection plans.
Ex-All Blacks boss Hansen didn't hold back in his weekend criticism of the Springboks, stinging remarks that were put to South African boss Jacques Nienaber at his Tuesday media conference in Australia https://t.co/LYPpSdHKXd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 31, 2021
“I’m really fortunate to be able to be in the match 23,” he enthused in his initial answer before Stick’s mid-flow interruption. “There are a lot of quality players like Frans (Steyn), Jessie (Kriel) all missing out and for me, it is an opportunity every week to go and use the opportunity and make the best out of it…”
Then came the unexpected interruption before the continuation of his answer. “…If I do make the squad of 23. I am really enjoying it. The team has been performing very well so it has been enhancing my chance to get into the team and to continue my run, but I am happy with the way the team is going and the trust in what the coaches have been putting into me. I have been really enjoying that and I’m looking forward to the next four weeks.”
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Fresh from series victory over the Lions and back-to-back successes over Argentina in a Test season that commenced with a win over Georgia nine weeks ago in Pretoria, the Springboks are now quarantining in Queensland ahead of their upcoming battles versus the Wallabies and the All Blacks.
It’s a huge trip for Willemse and some fellow youngsters in the Springboks set-up and he paid particular tribute to the encouragement given by the likes of veteran Steyn. The 34-year-old could understandably be frustrated by his own limited matchday involvement in recent months, but not a jot. Instead, his presence in the squad has been invaluable to those rookies making their way at Test level.
“I have been training with Frans the entire time leading up to the upcoming Tests and I must say he is such a chilled guy,” reckoned Willemse later in the Springboks media briefing. “He is working really hard at his game and just to have him with us, his presence in the team, he is always calm, always comes up with the plan, always clear communication.
“I have been really enjoying him as a person on and off the field. He really works hard at his game and to think a guy like him at his age as well, who is probably not 100 per cent, he still gives it 100 per cent. I have been really enjoying him and he is helping a lot of the youngsters, especially in the backline.
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“(Aphelele) Fassi and I and a few other guys, you can really see how we are enjoying him. Frans Steyn has really been helping me a lot when it comes to game management, the way he also keeps the ball. I have been learning a few tricks from him and he is not shy to share them as well.”
It helps that Willemse is now more comfortable with his own versatility, more than happy to help out the Springboks in a variety of positions rather than insist he must be only be considered for one particular position. “For me, I don’t have a preferred position,” he explained. “The preferred position is to try and make the 23.
What Duane Vermeulen unselfishly said to Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber in the week of the final Lions Test illustrates how impressive a character he ishttps://t.co/qVdsCTSHh3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 1, 2021
“There is a lot of quality players who aren’t fortunate enough to make the match 23 at the moment, guys with 40, 50, 60 caps behind their names. For me it is all about developing my skill set, working with the coaches, understanding the plan and if the plan is there for me, executing that and building on the current win rate of the team.
“The coaches are really helping me develop my skill set, whether it is required at No15 or No12. Especially coach Stick with the high balls, we work really hard on that, and just some game management stuff if I want to play at No15. And then at No12 there is a clear role for me, what I need to do in the team.
“We have a specific plan for how we want to win Test matches… Management is putting the team in the right place so we can force pressure and turn the ball over and make our wingers like Makazole (Mapimpi) and Cheslin (Kolbe) get into the game and score brilliant tries. That is one of the areas that I have been working on, trying to focus on.
“I had this conversation earlier today and we were talking about how small the margins are. If you do make a mistake it might be a small mistake but it will be five, seven points, especially against teams like Australia and New Zealand who have a lot of skilful players and a lot of armour in their backline as well. It’s all about playing clever and playing smart against good opposition, but we also have a plan.”
Having arrived in Australia last Friday, the Springboks will soon be free from quarantine at their Gold Coast hotel and will be able to venture outside that facility. When it happens, Willemse has one specific goal. “I want to go to the beach. We are looking forward to that.
“Everyone is really excited to go into normal life again if I can call it that. We have been in the bubble for quite some time. We are staying at a very nice hotel on the Gold Coast and there is a vibe in the team. Everybody is getting along and for the next four weeks, it is going to be rugby focused and making sure we continue to deliver the results on the field.”
Former Springboks scrumhalf and Saracen double centurion Neil de Kock explains how the Springboks pull off magic. #RugbyChampionship #Springboks https://t.co/UPyDUTkYZK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
13 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments