Blommetjies eyes Wales route after Boks snub
CLAYTON Blommetjies hopes his move to the Scarlets can help him one day star for Wales and emulate his hero Shane Williams.
The Cheetahs full-back will arrive in Llanelli next season and his side stepping ability and sheer pace mark him out as a player to watch.
The 27-year-old believes Wayne Pivac can help him to earn international honours after being snubbed by the Springboks.
“Shane is one of the players who inspired me to pick up a rugby ball,” Blommetjies told The Rugby Paper.
“He was as small guy like me and he didn’t try to run into people, he ran past them.
“He was a great player because he was an allTHE rounder. He could catch the ball out of the air, he could kick, he was fast, he had great hands and his sidestep was world class.
“Maybe I can turn out as a Wales international one day. Everything I am going to do at the Scarlets will be geared towards becoming a Wales international.”
Blommetjies hails from Boland in South Africa’s Western Cape and grew up dreaming of representing the Boks.
But the former Blue Bulls star has given up on ever representing the Rainbow Nation after what he sees as unfair treatment from former South Africa head coach Allister Coetzee.
“I don’t even think about wearing the green and gold anymore because I never had an opportunity to do it,” he said.
“Last year in Super Rugby I was playing the best rugby of my career and the coach Franco Smith told me you are good enough to become a Springbok at the end of the year.
“But Allister picked players ahead of me not because of how they played throughout the year, but because they were his favourites.
“Players like Elton Jantjies were selected because he knew them.
“After that I thought I’m not going to fight for the green and gold anymore, I want to go overseas and when my agent told me he had an offer from the Scarlets, I said yes immediately.”
The diminutive runner reckons the Scarlets’ attacking flair can get the best out of him.
He added: “One of the reasons I have joined the Scarlets is their brand of rugby.
“As a full-back whenever I receive the ball from deep my first instinct is to counter attack and not to kick like some other players. I want to win silverware and I think we can achieve that at the Scarlets.”