So what do you do if you are attacked and badly stung by a swarm of bees? Do you identify a culprit and single it out? Nope, you can’t do that, although the combination play from those bees was ferocious and had a telling impact, and it is probably why Damian Willemse walked away with the official Man of the Match award at Twickenham a few days ago.
Even the fullback hinted afterwards that maybe a forward should have won the award. He praised the effort of what on the night was effectively a 15-man forward effort, and it was there that the platform for South Africa’s thumping 35-7 record win over the All Blacks was undeniably laid. But who do you single out?
Willemse might have felt a bit embarrassed but he was nonetheless a stand-out for the Boks where so many of his teammates joined him in doing so. If a back was going to get the award, it could just as easily have been Andre Esterhuizen, who played a significant role with his strong carries and presence on the gainline and his deft handling.
Yet Willemse, who was calm, poised and strong at the back, was as significant a contributor to the win as anyone. Maybe not quite as much as on his last visit to Twickenham, where his two drop-goals - let’s not forget about that potential avenue of opportunity open to South Africa in a closely fought playoff game - and some brilliant assist play set up a comprehensive win over England, but nonetheless he was an influential figure.
The Boks have at least two good players of almost equal ability in just about every position, and that certainly counts for the last line of defence, where Willemse is more physical and abrasive than Willie le Roux. Not easily is it possible to imagine Willemse being bumped off like Michael Catt was by Jonah Lomu in 1995 in the way that Le Roux was when the All Blacks were on the way to one of their tries in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship test in Auckland in July.
He does embody the “warrior spirit” that Rassie Erasmus rates so highly more than Le Roux does, and the suggestions he isn’t quite as big a thorn to the opposition on attack is also dealing in a matter of degrees or per centages, if indeed there is any difference.
Just think back to Twickenham last November if you disagree. Willemse was massive on attack in that game, and he was playing flyhalf. In 2019 Willemse, then just two seasons into senior rugby after excelling at the 2016 Craven Week at Kearsney College, was a late call-up into the Bok World Cup squad because of the injury to Jesse Kriel. He played only a bit part in the competition.
This time though he is set to be one of the Boks’ most important players, particularly given the utility value that sees him travel as the backup flyhalf to his Stormers teammate Manie Libbok, who could also have walked away with the Man of the Match award in the most recent London game. And yet his best position may even be inside centre, where he is as good as anybody on his day.
The forwards laid the platform but Willemse was a standout with the comfortable way he dealt with the All Black kicking game when they did get it together and his all-round presence at the back and he is our Hero of the Week.
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