Stormers’ backline riches could yet convert Willemse into a 13

There’s been an understandable amount of focus on what hopefully will be an extended run for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf now that the young star has recovered from his injuries and is available again for DHL Stormers selection.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu will probably start in the No 10 jersey in what has become a crucial 13th-round Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Scarlets in Llanelli, and if he defies what is starting to become a trend and gets through the game, there’s also the Belfast meeting with Ulster beyond that.

But what of a player who is often likened to Feinberg-Mngomezulu or, to be more accurate, the other way around, for Damian Willemse was playing for the Stormers and the Springboks long before Feinberg-Mngomezulu arrived on the scene.

The DHL Stormers welcome back two of their play-makers this weekend to #VURC action ✨ pic.twitter.com/T60CmNDIO3

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 18, 2025

“What is Dobbo (Stormers director of rugby John Dobson) going to do with both Willemse and Warrick Gelant now available to him?” The question came from a fellow rugby scribe. My response: “Gelant? Why Gelant?”

As in, why is the choice seen as being between Willemse and the Stormers fullback. The answer, of course, is obvious - it was at fullback that Willemse started the 2023 Rugby World Cup final for the Springboks against the All Blacks. It is largely as a fullback that Rassie Erasmus has used him at national level, although there was that period where he did quite decently as a stand-in flyhalf and he’s also played fleetingly in the Bok midfield.

Gelant may have his detractors because of his tendency sometimes to overplay, to go for the 50/50 when maybe it would be wiser to take another option, but there is good reason why he is highly rated within the Stormers camp. He’s as safe as a house in the last line of defence, one of the best on the circuit, and he is hugely influential in the Stormers transitional and attacking game.

If he was from any other country, he could well have played for many years as a starting international fullback. It is hard to imagine, for instance, that England would have retreaded a flyhalf in Marcus Smith into a No 15 if they had the all-round skills and influence of Gelant available to them.

NEED TO ACCOMMODATE BOTH PLAYERS

That’s not to say that Gelant is a better fullback than Willemse. Not at all. Just that both players can be accommodated in the same backline, although maybe there is some irony in the fact that Willemse’s more regular role for the Stormers is in a position where, because he played schools and age-group there, Gelant might have more experience of over his old career. Centre.

Willemse is a class inside centre, and were it not for the presence of another Damian with Cape roots in the Bok mix, Damian de Allende, he could very easily be the regular Bok No 12. Yes, there is also Andre Esterhuizen, but Willemse, with his flyhalf experience, brings a different skill set while also not lacking in physicality.

Mention of physicality and add to that the subject of his pace and stepping ability and you get to where Dobson’s predecessor as Stormers coach, Robbie Fleck, told me he would be going with Willemse had he continued in his role beyond 2019. Outside centre. Fleck, who played that position himself, was convinced that No 13 might be Willemse’s best position.

And in time, if we ever get to a point where Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Willemse and Manie Libbok are all available for the Stormers at the same time, that might prove to be the best fit for the Stormers too. There’d be no other way of accommodating all of them in the same backline without sacrificing Gelant, which they should never do as the product of Outeniqua High is as lethal an attacker and as influential as any of those three players and they’d be awesome as a quartet.

JUST NUMBERS ON THE BACK

Another local franchise coach asked the obvious question when it was put to him that Willemse might make an outside centre: How does he defend as that is an important defensive position? The answer to that is that Willemse’s defence has always been outstanding, and his ability to be the defensive organiser, which is required of a No 13, has already been proven.

It took a reminder from Stormers defence coach Norman Laker during a conversation with journalists on the sidelines of a training session a few weeks ago, but when Willemse and Dan du Plessis have lined up together in the midfield, the No 12 on Willemse’s back and the unfamiliar No 13 on Du Plessis’ back have belied their roles.

“It’s just the numbers on the back,” said Laker, “Dan has operated at inside and Damian at outside quite frequently, particularly when we line up on defence.”

The Stormers team for the clash with the Scarlets will only be announced on Friday and Dobson does have options when it comes to outside centre, even in the continued absence of Ruhan Nel. Wandisile Simelane has done well there on attack and scored the match-clinching try last time out against the Bulls.

HARTZENBERG IS THE FUTURE THERE

Although the coaches are still working on aspects of his game that are necessary for an outside centre, Suleiman Hartzenberg, who has played most of his rugby for the Stormers on the wing, is considered the future in that position for the Cape franchise and he joined Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse in recovering from injury and returning to the selection mix.

But given the style of rugby that Scarlets employ, with their strengths being out wide, the defensive issues that have occasionally been apparent when Simelane has played might prompt Dobson to go for a Willemse/Du Plessis midfield combination. If he does, it will probably be Willemse at 12 and Du Plessis at 13 on the official team sheet, but it will be worth watching how they set in the game itself. For it could tell us a lot about the potential for Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse to line up as a combination when Libbok recovers from his injury and is available to slot in again at flyhalf.