World Cup winning fullback Damien Willemse says he can’t wait to be back on the field for the Stormers as he and fellow Springboks Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok and Frans Malherbe prepare to retun to action for the Cape Town franchise.
Since winning the World Cup the Stormer’s stars have been rested and they did not partake in last season’s finalist’s four week European tour. That tour resulted in four narrow losses and Willemse says he is looking forward to bringing his energy and experience to the Stormers mix a they prepare to face Zebre this weekend.
Speaking to the Stormer’s website he said: “Not just for me, but for a lot of the guys, the break was definitely something that we all needed, especially after those tough knockout games – to come back home and celebrate and spend some time with friends and family.
“But I’m really excited to get back to domestic duty and play for the Stormers.
“We’ve got some big games coming up, in the Champions Cup as well as the URC.
“It’s going to be an epic summer, especially going over to Europe to play there. So, really keen to get back in the Stormers jersey and do something special again with the team.
“We started really well against the Scarlets here at home, and we were a bit unlucky in all of our games on tour.
“But all teams go through phases like this, challenging times. The important thing for us is to get aligned as a team and make sure we work hard.
“It is something we’ve done before in the URC – winning those critical home games.
“We need to look at this situation logically and not be too hard on ourselves, and everyone is putting their shoulder to the wheel as a squad,” he said.
