{"id":54193,"date":"2026-03-28T10:30:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=54193"},"modified":"2026-03-28T10:30:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:30:20","slug":"kicking-game-willemse-wing-switch-stormers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/03\/28\/kicking-game-willemse-wing-switch-stormers\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh&#8217;s kicking game behind Willemse&#8217;s wing switch for Stormers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>Much interest will be on how Damian Willemse does starting on the right wing for the Stormers against Edinburgh.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An expected kicking game from Edinburgh has led to the Stormers\u2019 decision to name utility back Damian Willemse on the right wing, said Director of Rugby John Dobson on Friday, ahead of the United Rugby Championship match at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 7pm).<\/p>\n<p>Willemse\u2019s position was the major surprise in the Stormers lineup, with him shifting from fullback to take Seabelo Senatla\u2019s place on the wing, after he picked up an injury last week, while Warrick Gelant returned to the starting side at 15.<\/p>\n<p>Dobson explained that it was actually Willemse\u2019s idea, after he brought up the need to challenge that particular area of Edinburgh\u2019s game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a collaboration with Damian. He looked at how Edinburgh play and what they bring, and he actually came to us and said, \u2018What are we going to do about it?&#8217;\u201d said Dobson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re expecting a very big contestable kicking game. Edinburgh are in last-chance saloon and I think if you come to play the Stormers at seven o\u2019clock at night in autumn, it\u2019s going in the air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that\u2019s what we have to be ready for. The high ball was a big factor and there is nobody better than Damian in that role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dobson praised Willemse\u2019s professionalism and eagerness to play wherever the team needs him, while explaining that he believed he would be a success on the wing.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-responsibility\">More responsibility<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the traditional picture anymore. There\u2019s more responsibility on the wings in those aerial contests. He\u2019s strong enough to hold the ball up and act as a second receiver. In these conditions, it\u2019s not always about going wide, it becomes more direct,\u201d said Dobson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s one of those players who will play wherever the team needs him. He\u2019s completely bought into the plan. It\u2019s one of those things. If it comes off, it looks great. If it doesn\u2019t, we\u2019ll take the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stormers captain Ruhan Nel echoed his coach\u2019s words, as he said that just having Willemse on the field was a huge boost for the team no matter where he plays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s probably one of the best in the world under the high ball. From a wing perspective, that\u2019s massive for us. He was really keen to play there this week. And when you\u2019ve got a player of that quality, it benefits everyone around him,\u201d said Nel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving him on my outside is massive. He\u2019s a great communicator and a hard worker. He\u2019s diving over in the corner no matter where he plays. The people love seeing him out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It should be a cracking match, with the Stormers needing a win to secure their spot in second place on the URC log, while Edinburgh have to win or their top eight hopes will essentially be over.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p>Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Edinburghs #kicking #game #Willemses #wing #switch #Stormers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much interest will be on how Damian Willemse does starting on the right wing for the Stormers against Edinburgh. An&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54195,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54193\/revisions\/54195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}