Willemse raring to go at U20 World Champs
Flyhalf psyched up for opening game in France
ALTHOUGH Stormers flyhalf Damian Willemse has not played a single one of the Junior Springboks’ five warm-up games, he is clearly one of the key figures at the Junior World Championship‚ which starts in France tomorrow.
Willemse‚ who turned 20 last week‚ has been in excellent form for the Stormers but as a result of his Super Rugby commitments he is still having to come up to speed quickly.
The Junior Boks meet Georgia in their Pool opener tomorrow and Willemse‚ who is team vice-captain‚ will start at flyhalf after wearing the No 12 jersey at last year’s tournament.
“It is awesome to be here in France for the World Rugby U20 Championship‚ which is one of my favourite tournaments to participate in‚” Willemse said.
“With the first game coming up we are really excited‚ and personally I am looking forward to playing my first game with the guys and getting the tournament under way.”
Willemse said the team had settled in well at their base in Gruissan in the south of France‚ just outside Narbonne‚ where they will play their last two pool matches.
“We had our first training session yesterday [Sunday] and another today‚ which went well‚ and we are getting a lot of work done‚” Willemse said.
“Fortunately, there is not a lot of change the guys have to adapt to‚ so it is almost like being back home‚ which has made it easy to settle in.”
Captain Salmaan Moerat believes that beating Georgia twice in warm-up matches in Cape Town was a huge mental boost for the Junior Boks‚ who are aiming to win the title for the first time since 2012.
“We did most of our preparation at home‚ so we will work on the finer details in the next few days‚” he said.
“We played against Georgia in our warm-up matches and we have an idea of what to expect from them.
“But they are going to be a tougher outfit on Wednesday‚ so we will do our homework on them‚ and hopefully it will go well.”
Of the opening match against Georgia‚ which kicks off at Stade Aimé Giral in Perpignan at 6.30pm tomorrow‚ Willemse said: “The team is really excited to get going. A lot of the preparation is now done and it is almost time to play the first match.
“There will certainly be a lot of passion and pride in that game‚ and we are expecting Georgia to have a fair amount of supporters.
“We know it is going to be tough and very physical‚ but our preparation has been good‚ and we will give everything on the field.”
The Junior Springboks will face Ireland on Sunday and hosts France on Thursday next week at the Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié in Narbonne in their remaining pool matches. – TimesLIVE