CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 12: Damian Willemse of Western Province during the Currie Cup match between DHL Western Province and Vodacom Blue Bulls at DHL Newlands Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images)
Why a “special player” like Damian Willemse should not be on the bench?
Adnaan Mohamed
Cape Town – Western Province will be tackling the Golden Lions in a Currie Cup semi-final at Newlands (kick-off 17:00) tomorrow with their most dangerous attacking player sitting on the bench.
The prodigiously talented Damian Willemse has been earmarked by rugby experts as a “special talent”. WP coach John Dobson has repeatedly said this year that the 19-year-old flyhalf is the future of WP and Stormers rugby at flyhalf.
In fact, Willemse made his Super Rugby debut for the Stormers earlier this year even before he played his first Currie Cup game for Province.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 26: Damian Willemse of Western Province during the Currie Cup match between DHL Western Province and Cell C Sharks at DHL Newlands Stadium on August 26, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images)
With Robert du Preez fit again, Dobson decided to move Willemse to the fullback position to accommodate both players last week against the Sharks in Durban. Du Preez did well against his father, Sharks coach Robert du Preez snr., and his twin brothers Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez.
After the Sharks game Dobson jokingly admitted that Du Preez definitely had a “point to prove” against his “dad and his two sisters” as well as his future team-mates. It is already an open secret that he will be joining the rest of his family at the Sharks next year.
It, therefore, came as no surprise that the big flyhalf scored 21 points including two tries and deservedly received the man of the match award against the men from Durban last week.
Dillyn Leyds starred for the Boks against the All Blacks at Newlands just two weeks ago on the wing. He played wing alongside Willemse at fullback and Werner Kok in the back three last week in Durban.
Dobson, however, feels that Leyds is the best fullback in WP rugby.
“He (Leyds) is by quite a stretch the best fullback we have at the union,” said Dobson.
“I don’t think we saw enough of him last week on the wing. I know he played the test (against the All Blacks) there. However, we want to get enough out of him. We got a second-half plan with Damian (Willemse) and Jano (Vermaak).
“We felt last week in Durban we didn’t have the bench to make an impact. They are all good players, but I think if you look at the energy we have on the bench this week in terms of creativity especially if we chasing the game, we have (Skihumbuzo) Notshe, (Jano) Vermaak and (Damian) Willemse who are all special players.
“They have the ability to make a greater impact. There is no doubt that Damian Willemse is able to break a game open.”
Dobson felt Ruhan Nel was really good at 12 last week, but he decided to include him on the wing for tomorrow’s semi-final.
“Yes, I think he (Nel) just has a bit more experience in the 15 man game instead of Werner (Kok), but the plan could be that he comes into the centre at some stage.
“We got a nice plan for the second half. What is great about Ruan, is that he can get you serious momentum if he comes in outside 10,” added Dobson.
The reality is that a player like Willemse is a natural playmaker with the unique ability to create tries with his devastating sidestep and acceleration out of nothing. He is very similar and ironically much bigger and stronger than his New Zealand counterpart and namesake Damian McKenzie.
The teenager from Strand is exactly the kind of game-breaker you want in your starting line-up and should not be sitting on the bench in such a crucial game.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 12: Damian Willemse of Western Province during the Currie Cup match between DHL Western Province and Vodacom Blue Bulls at DHL Newlands Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images)
If he is regarded as “special” and the future of WP rugby by his coaches, why is he sitting on the bench? Surely the coach should have enough confidence to play him from the start. In rugby, the game is all about confidence and showing faith players.
If Willemse was born in New Zealand, he probably would have been in the All Black starting line-up. And that is one of the main reasons why the All Blacks are currently the best rugby team on the planet. It doesn’t matter how small or how old their players are. If they are good enough, they are not scared to back their “special” players.
McKenzie is a case in point. The diminutive fullback’s exceptional try was the difference between the All Blacks and the Springboks in the test at Newlands.
If McKenzie was a South African, he wouldn’t have been close to a Springbok team because of his size. Unfortunately, that is the sad reality of the mindset of the majority of coaches in South African rugby.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – OCTOBER 07: Damian McKenzie of New Zealand on his way to score a try during the Rugby Championship 2017 match between South Africa and New Zealand at DHL Newlands on October 07, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
