EW Viljoen has impressed in an encouraging first Super Rugby campaign for the Stormers. Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images.
To some, it was mildly surprising not seeing EW Viljoen in the Green-and-Gold last month – at least in the colours of South Africa ‘A’.
It could even be argued it would’ve been the perfect script because the 22-year-old’s excellent Super Rugby campaign pretty much happened out of necessity.
During the Stormers’ pre-season, the team had already had an injury crisis at centre on hand.
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Coach Robbie Fleck took a punt on a strapping 1.92m, 100kg fullback by shifting him to midfield.
The result of that is now for all to see.
“It’s actually kinda weird,” said Viljoen.
“I played my first Super Rugby game in the first week against the Bulls. Now I’m ending the regular season against them too. It sort of sums up the journey to date. It’s a nice feeling.”
The young Bloemfontein native hasn’t had much of a problem adapting to the attacking patterns of Super Rugby but more encouraging has been his defence.
It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but the 10 dominant tackles Viljoen have completed in 2017 suggests a tough defender in the making potentially.
As for higher honours, it’s perhaps a good thing that he hasn’t attracted attention nationally yet.
One gets the distinct feeling that Viljoen needs to first experience the challenge of facing a Springboks midfield of Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel.
Given both players’ form currently, it’s a perfect way to see how Viljoen has developed this season.
“It’s something I’m looking forward to,” he said.
“I am going to approach this game just like I have approached all the other games. But, I’m definitely looking forward to playing against Jesse and Jan if they are playing. I have a lot of respect for them. They are two of the best centres in the world.”
Viljoen is also under no illusion that he can’t take his showings for granted as the Stormers’ competition in midfield is strong again with the return of Damian de Allende, Huw Jones and Juan de Jongh.
“There is always stuff you have to work on. I’m working on a lot of things to get my game on point and to be the best that I can be.”
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