VIDEO: Willemse ready to step up
WATCH as Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus talks about the rookies in his Rugby Championship team.
South African Under-20 flyhalf Damian Willemse is one of three uncapped players included in the squad.
Erasmus on Monday named a squad of 35 players for the Rugby Championship.
Siya Kolisi retained the captaincy.
Erasmus, also SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, named two loose forwards, the Bulls’ Marco van Staden and Cyle Brink of the Lions, along with Willemse as the uncapped players in the group.
Erasmus said he has faith in the 20-year-old Willemse, who played in the Junior World Cup in June.
“I see him as a guy who can cover No.10, No.12 and No.15 in the future,”Erasmus told a media briefing at the team’s training base in Stellenbosch.
“It is a wonderful thing [utility player] to have in your team.
“He is physically ready for it [Test rugby]. [He has] the versatility and physically he is already up there.”
The Bok coach said the young No.10 is probably one of the more physical flyhalves.
“We are definitely going to consider him at fullback and not because Willie [le Roux] is not the first choice.
“We are thinking of the World Cup and you can only take 31 guys to the World Cup.
“There is still Frans Steyn and Patrick Lambie – we know they can do the job for us.
“However, things can change quickly in terms of injuries. You have to make alternative plans.
“Maybe he [Willemse] surprises us so much that we don’t even look at the other guys.
“Maybe he is one of those guys, like Frans Steyn when he was 19, who can just step up to the plate and do it already.”
Erasmus said Brink has been on the radar for some time, but injuries curtailed his opportunities.
“He has had a bit of run now [in Super Rugby] and showed again [this past] Saturday [in the Super Rugby Final] he can make the step up.”
The Bok coach described Brink as an ‘in-between’ player that plays like a Duane Vermeulen.
“He can steal [the ball] on the ground and can jump in a line-out. He can carry well. He is not an out-and-out openside flank, but he still does the blindside and the openside work.”
Van Staden’s progress this year also been curtailed by injury.
“He would probably have started in the Test series against England. The last match just before the June Tests he injured his knee.
“He is an out-and-out openside flank – like Francois Louw and Heinrich Brüssow.
“It is nice to have somebody like that in the fold.”
By Jan de Koning
@king365ed
@rugby365com
