Airborne Willemse to take his game to new heights

EXCLUSIVE: Fullback Damian Willemse sat down with Rugby365 in an exclusive one-on-one interview ahead of the Springboks’ Nations Championship clash against Italy on Saturday.

Willemse, fresh off a United Rugby Championship win with the Stormers over Ulster, will line up at No. 15 against the Azzurri for his 55th Test cap as the Boks aim to position themselves for the Nations Championship Final in late November.

The double World Cup winner touched on the recovery aspect following the URC clash heading into his preparations for the Test against Italy and how the squad approached the week so far after assembling on Monday.

“The body took a couple of shots against Ulster; they are a quality side, so we knew it would be a tough game and obviously the travel to Turin takes a toll,” Willemse told Rugby365 from the Springboks’ hotel in Turin on Wednesday.

“I’ve just been on the recovery side of things and making sure I keep my body right. We know how hard and tough the international demands are.

“So the focus has just been on recovery and ensuring we familiarise ourselves again with the calls, plays and finer details and making sure everyone is in sync because we’ve got so many guys coming from different clubs who have different styles of playing from all over the world. That’s just been the focus for this week.”

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#OPINION: ‘Can you win the World Cup with this team?‘
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One of Willemse’s greatest strengths is his ability to chase and retain contestable kicks.

The fullback has been rock solid in the air this season. He said it’s a part of his game he takes a lot of pride in and touched on what he expects for this weekend’s clash.

“The [high ball] contestable game has been growing a lot in the international arena. We’ve worked out some good plans around it, especially when teams are kicking onto us.

“Personally, I want to keep on improving my aerial skills and develop them further. If it’s dry this weekend, that would be great for us, and I’m sure Italy would like that as well.

“However, I don’t think that will take away anything from the game plan they’ll try to implement.

“If it does rain in the following weeks [against France and Ireland], we’ll have to adapt.

“I think that’s the most important thing to focus on his how we can adapt, make new plans if anything goes wrong to know how to fix it and find better solutions.

“Hopefully it’s dry and stays dry this weekend, and we’ll continue to play our game.”

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#StatAttack: Why Boks are dominating Nations Championship
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World Rugby enforced Law 9.4 in recent seasons, which states that a player must not intentionally prevent an opponent from having the opportunity to play the ball, other than by competing for possession, which saw blocking of high ball chasers lawed out of the game, making the aerial battle a one-on-one contest.

Willemse gave his personal take on the law implementation and how he is finding contesting high balls since the strict policing of it by match officials.

“The new law definitely helps to make contesting high balls easier to allow us to run through with no escorting allowed.

“It gives you a one-on-one contest with the receiving player if you are chasing.

“When you’re on the other side of it, if I’m receiving, that means I’ll get a lot more pressure from their chaser in the one-on-one contest.

“That’s where the game is going; it’s allowing a lot more one-on-one contesting, and the skill now is just to try and catch the ball clean before the opposition gets into the aerial contest.

“It’s a skill we have to work on every day and every week; you don’t just stand there, you need to keep on working on it and make sure you get up in the air and try and win the ball.

“It’s a skill that’s coming into the game more and more, and it’s great; I love it.”