Stormers coach John Dobson has explained Damian Willemse’s return to fullback for Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash against the Glasgow Warriors, despite his impact on the wing.
The Springbok playmaker impressed in the No 14 jersey in last week’s defeat to Connacht, but the coaching staff were always intent on restoring him to his preferred position.
“Damian on the wing worked,” Dobson said. “From a technical side, he made more carries than [centre] Dan du Plessis last week and in terms of a contestable game, I think we were 75% to zero.
“The way Damian regathered the restarts, he played exceptionally well on the wing.
“But that is not Damian’s full-time position and I don’t think he’s going to play for South Africa like that, so we wanted to get him back at fullback.”
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Dobson stressed that the shift was not a reaction to performance, but rather a decision aligned with the Stormers’ broader approach.
“We had a contestable plan for Edinburgh. We had a contestable plan for Toulon, which worked. We had a contestable plan for Connacht.
“We lost the game, but that plan worked in terms of the contestables and how we wanted to play.”
Willemse is replaced on the right wing by Wandisile Simelane, with Suleiman Hartzenberg still working his way back after a string of injuries.
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The positional tweak comes after a difficult week for the Stormers, who were emotionally drained following the death of long-serving team manager Chippie Solomon.
“If you saw the state that Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] was in 30 seconds before kick-off … Hopefully tomorrow we have a little bit less heavy emotion,” said Dobson.
Captain Ruhan Nel said the squad had spoken about the situation.
“It was an emotional week. But post the funeral, we addressed that and said at some point we have to pick it up again. The energy has been really good and the boys are up for it.”
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Looking ahead to Glasgow, Dobson expects a major response from the URC leaders.
“This is a proper game. You can’t read anything into last week. It’s going to be full metal jacket.”
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Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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