A big second year for EW?

IF EW VILJOEN kicks off his Super Rugby season the way he did last year, then the Newlands faithful sure have a lot to look forward to.

The 22-year-old centre caused all kinds of problems for the opposition in 2017, especially in the first part of the season, and if his rugby displays of last year is anything to go by, then we can expect him to be a Stormer to watch again.

He announced his Super Rugby arrival in a big way with his slick offloads, his solid tackling and his ability to organise the Stormers’ backline defence, and there were also, of course, his running lines. And if you consider his other contributions like his ball-carrying, his passing game that often saw him put his teammates away and the occasional fend, then it’s safe to say that the former Free State Craven Week player built a pretty solid case early last season.

But unfortunately we didn’t see that from his very first game to his very last, right throughout.

Viljoen didn’t manage to take all of that into every game he played last year, especially in the latter stages of Super Rugby. His very last few games for the Stormers in 2017 perhaps weren’t as stunning as his debut against the Bulls in their season-opener at Newlands – a game in which he proved instrumental.

Yep, he had a few more “quiet” games. Quiet, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t do what he had to.

And also, let’s be fair – rugby players, like other athletes on this planet, take a dip in form every now and then, and you also can’t expect one man’s lightbulb to shimmer and shine on every occasion even if the rest of the field might have a couple of fused ones (like in New Zealand, where the Stormers struggled, especially against the Crusaders and the Highlanders). That’s just not fair.

So yeah, there might have been those games in which Viljoen didn’t set the field alight, but he had a great season nonetheless. And the huge positive is that we can see all of that again this season.

It’s his attacking ability perfectly paired with his strong defence, especially in the wider channels, that made him such a hit in the Stormers’ efforts last year, and I see no reason why this season can’t be the same.

In his debut season it was his offloads that caught my eye, and he confidently revealed every other exciting part of his game the more he played. So who knows, we might just be treated to a different, but just-as-exciting EW Viljoen show this time around.