Fleck open to playing Willemse at fullback in Super Rugby

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck says that Damian Willemse is likely to be largely deployed as a fullback in the 2019 Super Rugby campaign.

Willemse was South African Schools flyhalf in 2016 and played mostly at ten for the Stormers in 2018 but Springbok supremo Rassie Erasmus asked him to play fullback for his introduction to international rugby.

The player himself appears keen on the move and it is one that Fleck is willing to accommodate given the return to fitness of Jean-Luc du Plessis and the Currie Cup form of Josh Stander.

At the tail end of 2018 Fleck told Supersport’s Gavin Rich: “I have discussed it with him and we will sit down again in January and discuss it further. He is keen to give fullback a crack but obviously the team will come first and he understands that he will have to play where we need him.

“It is our responsibility at the Stormers to nurture him. I thought he had a great season at flyhalf last year, but Josh Stander did develop well during the Currie Cup and Jean-Luc is back.”

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Fleck was pleased to head into 2019 with a squad that has no major injury concerns as of yet and hasn’t suffered from too many major departures.

He added: “With the exception of the loss of JC Janse van Rensburg (and Raymond Rhule and Dewald Duvenage) we have pretty much the same group of players, but the difference now is that unlike last year everyone is fit.

“Last year we had a hang-over in injuries from the previous Currie Cup and end of year Springbok tour, but that is not the case now. We have only two players on the injured list in the form of hooker Ramone Samuels and scrumhalf Paul de Wet, otherwise everyone is fit. Dan du Plessis is also fully recovered from his injuries and although Damian de Allende will be our first choice inside centre we are expecting a lot from Dan. He is a special player.”

Fleck says that Willemse will face stiff competition for the number 15 jersey from Dillyn Leyds and SP Marais.

He went on to say: “Last year was difficult, there were times when we had just six backs at training. But this year we have two full backlines and we have lots of options. I’ve spoken about Damian (Willemse) possibly playing fullback but let’s not forget how good Dillyn Leyds has been there and we also have SP Marais, who adds a lot with his kicking game and did really well at left wing in the Currie Cup.”

The Stormers open their Super Rugby season with an SA derby against the Bulls at Loftus on 16 February, kick off is scheduled for 17:15 (SAST).