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Damian Willemse signs deal with Saracens

Damian Willemse's similarities to Alex Goode will be welcomed by Saracens (Photo by Shaun Roy/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Stormers pivot and Springbok Damian Willemse has penned a deal to join the Saracens as injury cover for Alex Goode and Max Malins.

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Willemse, who earned five caps for South Africa throughout 2018, was hopeful of making his national side and competing at the World Cup but missed out on selection to the likes of Handre Pollard, Elton Jantjies and Frans Steyn.

His ommission from the World Cup squad has allowed him to link up with the English Premiership champions for the early stages of their campaign.

The Currie Cup will come to an end this weekend and with no other first-class rugby on the horizon for the remainder of the year, Willemse’s move will give the 21-year-old the opportunity to hone his skills in the Northern Hemisphere and will also provide the Saracens with a prodigious talent.

The Cape Town-born playmaker can cover both first five and fullback and started matches in both positions for the Stormers throughout their 2019 Super Rugby.

With Goode and Malins injured, and Owen Farrell at the World Cup, Willemse will have plenty of opportunities to step-in for the Saracens.

“We’re grateful to Western Province for allowing Damian to play his rugby at Saracens for the next three months,” Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall said.

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“He is a young talent and we’re looking forward to welcoming him to the club.”

Willemse has accrued 30 caps for the Stormers since his debut in 2017 as an 18-year-old. His ability, promise and utility saw him called up to the Springboks squad during last year’s Rugby Championship and he debuted against Argentina in the first round of the competition. He earned his first start for South Africa against England on the opening game of their end-of-year tour but made no further appearances for the Springboks.

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J
JW 58 minutes ago
Leicester Fainga'anuku denied All Blacks eligibility for TRC

I don’t get that. I got the opposite, this was something Lester really really wanted to do. NZR is not going to stop him doing that by putting ridiculous money in front of him (noted you were only asking for fair money).


I wouldn’t say this was a Mo’unga or Frizell situation where there talent only was unlocked after they signed abroad, when Schmidt and Ryan came in respectively. LF was on a good trajectory, and he just decided he has the perfect window of opportunity to go abroad while he’s not first choice, learn and live in France to come back better and have a good shot at the perfect age. I think he recongised that.


Agreed that our rotation has been off the the last decade, players have not been moved on when they should, but I wouldn’t include Rieko in that discussion, though I would accept he is more of a marketing than performance signing.


Also agree it is a strange condunrum that results from the misalligned seasons, where Lester is straight into NPC in the same season almost. When really the ‘start’ of his contract is next year. Is he even going to be on the payroll at the moment? Could it be used as a double dip to encourage players back, a ‘bonus international season’ of match fees.


But they also don’t want them to become anymore common. So perhaps everything is fine? Like I was alluding to with Toko, they would need multiple markers of their own in Top 14 for them to be able to gauge off. As I’ve said in previous articles I’d be comfortable to expand sabbaticals to 2 in every position (yes a huge change), so that the was a core group of 30 of the top players all aligned with the ABs and overseas at any one time. This would ensure there are good markers to correlate levels of performance amongst everyone. This is a very similar setup/size to South Africa. It is like the AB modem in a wider organism, the vets are shipped off much earlier, and the core of next cycle is brought through. No missing out on the JGPs or Aki’s, no the Antonio’s or young Patrick Tuifua’s to france, keeping the Chandler Cunningham-South’s or Roots brothers, evan this Dubious guy from the French team was playing rugby here in NZ and could have stayed with a more ground up focus on bringing players through, not paying them much etc lol

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