“I TAKE PLEASURE IN THE small things”
WALKING AROUND, Paul Willemse steers the kind of frame that jams doorways, blots out suns and pressures pavements. And yet the big man often wonders if he’s been seen. Really seen.
“It’s quite funny,” Willemse begins explaining to Rugby World, “normally supporters and the general rugby public never pick up on all the small things in a game. So I might come off a game and people will say, ‘He was quite quiet and didn’t do that much’, but in the back of my mind I know I stopped three mauls by myself, when they could have scored from inside the 22m. They could be playing a pick-and-go game and the player in front of me knocked the ball on because I gave him a small pull-back.
“It’s interesting because I’m not the flashy player. But I take pleasure in the small things. Though normally it’s the forwards coach that sees those small details, not even the head coach!”
Did you see those.
