Willemse out of Boks’ UK tour, Hanekom called up

Damian Willemse has been ruled out of the Springboks’ tour of the UK from Sunday, with Bulls loose forward Cameron Hanekom called up in his place.

Utility back Willemse, who missed all of the Boks’ matches this season because of a long term injury, returned to action a few weeks ago and was set to take on Scotland, England and Wales with the world champions in November.

However, Willemse limped off the field with an apparent groin injury while playing a URC match for the Stormers against Glasgow in Stellenbosch on Saturday and apparently will now miss the tour.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has opted to call up Hanekom, 22, from the Bulls instead of another outside back.

Fullback options

Hanekom, who has been in good form for the Bulls over the last two seasons and was unlucky to miss out on an initial call-up, will thus become the only uncapped player in an experienced 35-man squad.

Erasmus and the Boks have numerous options at fullback, namely Aphelele Fassi, who’s almost made the position his own this season in the absence of Willemse, as well as veteran Willie le Roux.

Several of the outside backs, including Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and even Jesse Kriel, Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard can also play fullback in an emergency.

Erasmus this week already had to make a change in his forwards, when Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who can play hooker and prop, was ruled out of the tour. The Bok coach was then forced to pick two players for the one, bringing in hooker Johan Grobbelaar and prop Wilco Louw.

Opportunity

The Bok boss admitted that while the loss of Willemse was a blow, Hanekom’s call-up was well deserved after knocking on the door for the last season.

“Damian has been in great form the Stormers since returning from injury and we feel for him after missing out on all 10 Test matches this season due to a finger injury,” said Erasmus.

“But as was the case with Wilco and Johan’s call-up, we are excited to see what Cameron brings to the team. He was in the group of players included in our alignment camps earlier in the year, so he’s familiar with some of our structures and the Springbok ethos, and we have no doubt he will grab this opportunity with both hands.”

Erasmus added: “We are comfortable with the depth and versatility we have among the backs in the squad, so we decided to include another forward to add to our loose forward stocks.”