Willemse is due for an extended run at fullback

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber dropped a broad hint at the team announcement press conference on Tuesday that Damian Willemse’s appearance as the starting fullback for Saturday’s clash with Wales at the Principality Stadium will go beyond being just a once-off selection.

Willemse will come into the No 15 jersey in what Nienaber described as a rotational selection, with the experienced Willie le Roux sitting this game out. Why Le Roux’s period on the sidelines might go beyond just this match is because Nienaber spoke of the need to give Willemse an “extended” opportunity.

Fullback is the one area where there is a clear need to build depth ahead of the next Rugby World Cup, which will be played in France in two years from now. Le Roux will be 34 when rugby’s next global event arrives and may be one of the players who might find the bridge between 2019 and 2023 a bit too far in terms of the march of Father Time, while Frans Steyn, who did excellently when he replaced Le Roux at fullback in the last quarter of the recent win over the All Blacks, will be 36.

The idea of both being around still in 2023 is not complete fantasy, but you can’t bank on it, which means the likes of Willemse, who has been groomed for the position since he was first selected to the Bok squad in 2018 when he was just two years out of school, needs to be given an opportunity now.

SELECTION MADE WITH 2023 IN VIEW

“The selection was made partially with my 2023 cap on,” Nienaber confirmed. “I asked Damian just before this press conference how many caps he has, and it stands at the moment on 13 and will become 14 on Saturday. When it comes to starts though, he has started just three times.

“We need to enable Damian to build on his experience and while he has been part of the squad since 2018 he hasn’t yet been given an extended run as a starter. This is an opportunity for him.”

Le Roux was poor in the final Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks so there shouldn’t be too many quibbles over the selection. However, Nienaber made it clear this isn’t the end of Le Roux as a Bok.

“If we were playing a World Cup final on Saturday then we would probably still go for Willie as the fullback just from an experience viewpoint. You can’t argue against more than 70 caps and that makes Willie a valuable player for us,” said the Bok coach.

A good performance from Willemse against Wales though will probably cement him further starting opportunities on this tour as the Boks start to focus properly on the challenge that awaits them in France 24 months hence.

“This is an ideal situation to give Damian an opportunity and, as I say, we haven’t given him an extended run up to now and this is a chance for him to play and settle,” said Nienaber.

Aphelele Fassi, who has only played wing for the Boks up to now, is another long-term candidate for fullback once he has been given more chance to develop and mature into the position, something he should do once he returns to the Cell C Sharks and plays in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Nienaber said that Fassi’s opportunity will also come but that Willemse is the man that the Boks have earmarked as Le Roux’s replacement since 2018 and he is now being rewarded for the hard work he has put in and the patience he has shown.

KRIEL’S SELECTION IS RETURN TO 2018 PLAN

Talking of 2018, the other interesting selection was that of Jesse Kriel as the wing replacement for Sbu Nkosi, who is not yet with the team because of visa complications. Nienaber confirmed that the selection is effectively a case of returning to a plan that was hatched in his and the then head coach Rassie Erasmus’ first year at the helm of the Boks.

“We first selected Jesse as a wing for the game against the All Blacks in Wellington in 2018 and we were thinking of him as a possible more permanent wing back then,” said Nienaber.

“But you will remember that in that game he started on the wing and Lukhanyo Am was at outside centre. During that game Lukhanyo broke his arm and was ruled out for the rest of the year. That forced us to move Jesse back to outside centre, and Cheslin Kolbe, who was the reserve that day in Wellington, came onto the wing and did well there so we never looked at Jesse as a wing again as there wasn’t place for him there.

“There was a possibility of us making that selection again during the World Cup in Japan but you will recall he got injured in the first game against New Zealand and was forced to fly home early so we never got the chance to try it again. Jesse brings organisational skills and he has trained well with us over the past few weeks.”

Nienaber didn’t say so, but what Kriel also brings is experience of playing fullback, the position where he started his career, and his efficiency in the aerial battle would have been considered alongside his strong defensive ability in the selection.

JANTJIES’ TURN TO GET A START AT NO 9

The other change of the three made to the starting team that beat the All Blacks last time out is an injury-enforced one at scrumhalf, with Herschel Jantjies starting at scrumhalf in the absence of the injured Faf de Klerk.

“Herschel’s selection is similar to the selection of Damian (Willemse),” explained Nienaber. “Herschel hasn’t started for us for a long time and is due an opportunity to get a start. Cobus Reinach is in good form, as he showed for his club last weekend, and he will provide strong back-up from the bench. Like with fullback, where we know what we get from Willie, at scrumhalf we know what we get from Cobus.”

SPRINGBOK TEAM: Damian Willemse, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Herschel Jantjies, Duane Vermeulen, Kwagga Smith, Siya Kolisi, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Elton Jantjies, Frans Steyn.

Details: Kick-off at 7:30pm CAT, on Grandstand and SuperSport Rugby channels.