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'He has got a British passport which is handy': Nadolo's verdict on Northampton signing his 6ft 6in, 128kg cousin Willemsen

By Liam Heagney

02 May 2021

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Leicester winger Nemani Nadolo is looking forward to monitoring the progress of his Australian cousin Duane Ratu Willemsen after the 20-year-old signed a three-year senior academy deal with Gallagher Premiership rivals Northampton last month.

Willemsen is a 6ft 6in, 128kg forward who represented New South Wales at age-group level in both rugby union and basketball and most recently enjoyed a stint in rugby league with the NRL’s St George Illawarra Dragons.

He has now returned to union, touching down in England and beginning training at Northampton after observing a quarantine period, and Nadolo, a two-try scorer against the Saints in last weekend’s Premiership derby, can’t wait to see how his cousin develops under the tutelage of Chris Boyd.

England pair Shaunagh Brown and Dan Norton guest on the latest RugbyPass Offload

“He has got a British passport, which I guess is handy to have, and it is an opportunity that has come up and he has taken it,” explained Nadolo, who is 13 years older than Willemsen, a signing Northampton confirmed on April 8.

“He is young enough to experiment with this journey he is going down. He’s a young kid who hasn’t played too much rugby but it’s not a bad place to learn the trade over here. I have always said English rugby is high up there.

“I probably lacked a bit of power in contact"
– Nemani Nadolo has taken up powerlifting ?? again and an 11-week break in between games led to 2?? tries on his return
https://t.co/PbbIYSmPDA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 30, 2021

“If you have got them in your ear and you are eligible and you can do all that, it would be silly not to look into it. I guess the way Australian rugby is going at the moment there is probably not too many opportunities there with the clubs and covid.

“Covid plays a big part so for me it’s a no-brainer for him to come from rugby league. Good on him. They have signed him for three years so that would be more than enough time to hopefully see him in the Saints jersey, just not against us though.”

'I was very much a middle-to-bottom player in a club… it’s their salaries that are getting cut by a large amount. Those players are left in the s***' @TomStephenson13 walked away from rugby at 26, his mental health in tatters. He talks to @heagneyl ???https://t.co/tIADPwvn0G
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021

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Comments on RugbyPass

GrahamVF 13 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

There is a continued murmur in local circles about reciprocal bi annual tours between SA and Argentine. Whether it's full blooded test tours or development tours or a mixture - ie touring with a "test" 20 and a development 20 the cream of which will be used in tests. We actually really enjoy playing the Argies and I believe they enjoy playing us. It goes back seventy years to the Junior Bok tours to Argentine involving Isaac van Heerden.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 20 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

About 500K of those are schoolboys 90% of which will not go on to play club rugby.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 22 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Exactly. Shoo would that it was so easy to develop competitions.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 25 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

SA wealthy? Compared to which countries. The economy is in tatters unemployment is at record low numbers and you think SA has money to spend on rugby development -0 and remember the SARU was technically bankrupt and was only saved by the COVID tour of the B&I Lions. No Sa doesn't have spare cash lying round for rugby development and given the resources SARU is doing just fine.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 29 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

South African domestic rugby is in great shape. Four top tier franchises fed by a series of competitions ranging from national schools competitions through Varsity Cup to Currie Cup and then to top four franchises is a model Australia would do well to follow. SA should never have more than four top domestic teams.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 33 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

That might be the best spin off from SA's involvement north of the line.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 34 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Of course not Nick 😉

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 38 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

We have our own theories about The Sharks. Plumtree is a good coach but he has not done anywhere near the best he could with the talent and money he has at his disposal and it doesn't help to have a marquee director of rugby who has spent by far the majority of his career playing and coaching sevens.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 43 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Don't worry - you'll win again soon then you'll feel a lot better. Right now get on with your SH comps and we'll get on with being barely the best in the world.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 46 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

JW you really have no idea of how Africa works. It will take generations not decades no matter how much SA puts into it. The poverty in Africa is something that is obviously beyond your understanding. Do you think the governments of impoverished nations are going to watch happily as rugby pours massive investments into infrastructure to promote what is essentially a white western game? And SA was trying hard to develop the game in Africa until the African vote blocked our "23 bid after the independent consultants to the RFU voted unanimously for SA? The Confederation of African Rugby virtually excluded South Africa.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 56 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Nick, our association with Argentina Rugby runs very long and deep. We are exploring reciprocal two/three test tours in the future - and even more games at neutral venues such as in Europe where a lot of both teams have players anyway.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 59 minutes ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

"has SA actually EVER helped to develop another union to maturity like NZ has with Japan," yes - Argentina. You obviously don't know the history of Argentinian rugby. SA were touring there on long development tours in the 1950's

We continued the Junior Bok tours to the Argentine through to the early 70's

My coach at Grey High was Giepie Wentzel who toured Argentine as a fly half. He told me about how every Argentinian rugby club has pictures of Van Heerden and Danie Craven on prominent display. Yes we have developed a nation far more than NZ has done for Japan. And BTW Sa players were playing and coaching in Japan long before the Kiwis arrived. Fourie du Preez and many others were playing there 15 years ago.

"Isaac Van Heerden's reputation as an innovative coach had spread to Argentina, and he was invited to Buenos Aires to help the Pumas prepare for their first visit to South Africa in 1965.[1][2] Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour,[2] it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as Hugo Porta.[1][2] Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park, and emerged as one of the better modern rugby nations, thanks largely to the talents of this Durban schoolmaster.[1]"

After the promise made by Junior Springbok manager JF Louw at the end of a 12-game tour to Argentina in 1959 – ‘I will do everything to ensure we invite you to tour our country’ – there were concerns about the strength of Argentinian rugby. South African Rugby Board president Danie Craven sent coach Izak van Heerden to help the Pumas prepare and they repaid the favour by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 1 hour ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Which country do you think was instrumental in developing rugby in Argentina which then spun off into the rest of Latin South America? South Africa was touring Argentine in the 50's with their Junior Bok side on three months development tours. And they didn't do it to cultivare players for the Boks. Regarding Africa you are not taking into account that South Africa itself is an emerging nation. The rugby union has prioritised the development of rugby in South African rural communities with outstanding success.

It has taken 15 years to build the participation of rugby both in playing and watching. For South Africa on its own to build a viable international rugby competition in africa will take generations - not decades. New Zealanders seem to resent the fact that SA has doubled the income of the URC since their inclusion. If New Zealand Rugby hadn't insisted on have a disproportionate slice of the pie in Super Rugby, SA might not have fled the coop.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 1 hour ago

Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

I think this debate is avoiding the elephant in the room. Money. According to the URC chief executive Martin Anayi, the inclusion of SA teams has doubled the income of the URC. There is no doubt that the SA teams benefit from the URC but so do the other countries' teams. Perhaps it doesn't affect a club like Leinster but the less well off clubs benefit hugely from South African games' TV income. I don't think SA continued inclusion in the URC is a slam dunk. They don't hold all the cards by a long way - but they do have an ace in the hole. The Ace of Diamonds.

157 Go to comments

GrahamVF 1 hour ago

How Wallace Sititi humbly reacted to All Blacks Player of the Year honour