Refreshed Willemse can spark Stormers

• Dynamic Springbok hero excited to get back to domestic duty and the URC tournament

With his batteries fully recharged after his World Cup heroics, dynamic playmaker Damian Willemse wants to give the stuttering Stormers a jolt of high-voltage energy when they face Zebre in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in Stellenbosch on Saturday.

The dynamic Bok hero will make his much-awaited domestic return at the Danie Craven Stadium after taking a break following his exploits in France.

After losing four consecutive matches, Stormers coach John Dobson will be hoping a refreshed Willemse adds muchneeded firepower to his limping side.

Zebre are only one place below the Stormers on the log and an upset win in Stellenbosch will take them above the Cape franchise.

Willemse says the threeweek break was just what he needed and he’s hungrier than ever to get back to active duty for the Stormers.

“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 World Cup games,” Willemse said.

“It was great 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 I’m really keen to get back in the Stormers jersey and do something special again with the team.”

During his break, Willemse has been keeping a close watch on the Stormers. “We started really well against the Scarlets here at home and we were a bit unlucky in all of our games on tour,” he said.

“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.

BACK HOME

“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.

“Everyone is really excited to be back at home and playing at Danie Craven Stadium — it is always lovely to play there.

“We want to put our best foot forward and build some momentum going into the other clashes we have in the December schedule.

“We’ve all seen Zebre’s performances and how they’ve developed their game. They’ve got great players and a great coaching staff.

“When we went to Parma last year it was a challenging game and they’re going to come here and try to cause an upset.

“We’ve come from a disappointing tour so we need to make sure we study them and focus on our game. We expect Zebre to come out with a bang.”

After early wins over the Lions and the Scarlets, the Stormers slumped to away defeats against Glasgow Warriors, Benetton Treviso, Munster and Cardiff Blues.

Coach Dobson said: “We have a lot of work to do ahead of the Zebre game. We will have some personnel back, we will play some games at home and we will start putting together some better performances.”