They played for Western Province Schools at the same Craven Week at Kearsney College in 2016 and are the same age, so it is a measure of the impact Damian Willemse has on those around him that Salmaan Moerat should single him out on the eve of his 100th appearance for the DHL Stormers for being an inspiration for himself.
Moerat, who led that WP Schools team nine years ago, will lead the Stormers against the Dragons in their 17th round Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Saturday. Apart from the need to keep the winning momentum as they march towards the playoffs, Willemse’s landmark game in the jersey he first got acquainted with when he was still a teenager is very much the focus of the DHL Stadium occasion.
Both Moerat and coach John Dobson spoke effusively on the eve of the game about Willemse’s loyalty to the Cape rugby region, his competitiveness, his professionalism and his qualities as a human being, with Dobson pointing out that had Willemse been lost to the Stormers in 2020, which he nearly was, a huge building block to the success that came two years later would have been lost.
Willemse, known as ‘Gazza’ by his teammates, was under a lot of pressure to move to the Bulls because of the role some people involved with that franchise had played in his earlier life and development, and it is also understood there was a huge financial incentive. Willemse was on the verge of signing for the Bulls but pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour because he wanted to stay loyal to the region he had grown up in.
BACKLINE COULD BE BUILT AROUND HIM
“When Damian decided to stay, we knew the backline could be built around him,” said Dobson.
“Damian made a massive statement, and I am not sure many people understand how much pressure he was under to move. He stayed loyal because he grew up in the back garden in the Strand playing in the WP jersey, and he played under-13 for WP at Grant Khomo Week.
“I understand why some top players left the franchise around that time, and would never blame the likes of Siya (Kolisi) and Pieter-Steph (du Toit) for leaving, but once we had kept Frans (Malherbe) and Steven Kitshoff, plus Salmaan and then Damian, we knew we had the guys we could build a team around. Damian was absolutely critical to being able to build a quality backline and had we lost him, we would have been under a lot of pressure. He was under a lot of pressure to move and it was a huge statement on his part that he didn’t.”
'A TRUE INSPIRATION'
Moerat led the Boks a few times last season and appears to be in Rassie Erasmus’ vision as a future national captain, but Willemse, who turned 27 on Wednesday, was quicker out of the blocks when it came to representing his country and the progress he made is something the Stormers skipper says inspired him.
“Damian has been a dear friend to me and to many other players and a true inspiration,” said Moerat.
“I mentioned recently, I think it was to Ruben (van Heerden), that after the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan I saw a photo with Damian and Herschelle Jantjies in it and it ignited something in me. Gazza was a guy I had played so many years with, both at school representative and age group level before playing senior rugby for the Stormers and WP and he was the reason I decided to work harder to become a Springbok myself.
“He spoke earlier in the week quite beautifully and I can’t do what he said justice but it was about how everything he has achieved is not just for himself but the broader community and others who have been there before us. He has changed the perspective around coloured players, if I can put it that way, and he will go down as one of the greatest coloured players, if not the greatest to have played the game. When he spoke, he touched on the history of this country, which was beautiful.”
QUINTESSENTIAL PRO RUGBY PLAYER
Willemse’s impact on Moerat would not have surprised Dobson, who has always described Willemse as not just a generational talent on the field but also the perfect example of what a professional rugby player should be.
“We know what we’ve got in Damian, but I am not sure the world does,” said the Stormers director of rugby.
“He truly is a generational player. I have worked with him since 2017 and other than the flash you see on the field, there is the competitiveness he brings to his work as well as the passion he has for the team. He flew himself to Harlequins, paid for himself, when we sent an understrength team to London in the Champions Cup last year and helped us out with the analysis of the opposition. That is the type of guy he is.
“At the age of 25 he has already won two Rugby World Cups. He is a real treasure who I think would walk into any rugby team in the world, but he is also a leader when it comes to professionalism, work ethic and competitiveness. I just hope the wider public realises what we have both as a world-class rugby player but also as a human being.”
LIBBOK NOT PASSED TO PLAY BY MEDICAL TEAM
As it turns out, Willemse will not be sharing the field with Manie Libbok, as suggested earlier in the week when it was announced that the Springbok flyhalf was back in training. Instead, Stormers fans can expect him to be back for the game against Cardiff that will conclude the Stormers’ league season in Cape Town next Friday.
“Manie is back in training, but he was not passed to play (by the medical staff). We are expecting him to be available to play in the Cardiff game and we are very excited about that prospect,” said Dobson.
The Stormers coach added that the short turnaround to the Cardiff game and the need to ensure they had “28 to 29 players” who are match ready when the playoffs arrived had directed some of the unexpected selections for the Dragons game, such as the elevation of Wandisile Simelane to the starting team with Dan du Plessis dropping to the bench.
“It looks like we will be going to the playoffs, so we need 28 or 29 guys ready. I didn’t want to disrespect the Dragons by going with a second-string team, and we haven’t done that. But we can’t have Wandisile not playing for seven weeks. Let’s say we have to push on his button in the quarterfinal, and it is the same with Joseph Dweba (who is back as starting hooker).
“We don’t know what the injuries will be like after these two games, ideally we would like none, but Wandisile did really well for us when he played. Say we end up going to Loftus for a playoff, he will be the ideal guy to have there because he has shown he can be exceptional on that field.
“The second element to it is that Dan has played a lot, and he felt his hamstring a bit against Benetton. He is fit to play, but we also want Dan to be absolutely fit and fresh for the playoffs. We are playing him off the bench because with the bye coming up after Cardiff, we would risk him not playing for several weeks if we didn’t. You can expect someone like Sti (Stihole) to come back into the mix next week.
“This is not a second team by any means, it is pretty much the team that played against Benetton, and we’ve kept it similar because we want to keep the standards up, but the same thinking applies to the selection of Ben Loader (ahead of Leolin Zas). Ben has been excellent and could be knocking on the door in the playoffs. We don’t want him to get to a quarterfinal week and he hasn’t played in five weeks.”