'The referee was like are you sure?': Damian Willemse relives scrum call off mark

Of all the decisions made at the World Cup this year, none was as bold as Damian Willemse’s choice to call a scrum off a mark in the quarter-final against France.

This was so bold that it was actually the first time that it happened at a World Cup, according to Jean de Villiers, and it came in one of the most high-pressure games, and moments, of the tournament, not only against the tournament hosts and one of the favourites, but also against a much-vaunted scrum.

Now over a month on from the Springboks lifting the Webb Ellis Cup, moments like Willemse’s scrum call are starting to become embedded in South African rugby folklore.

WATCH as Boks Office host Hanyani Shimange and his guests – South African legends Jean de Villiers and Brian Habana, as well as two-time World Cup winner Damian Willemse – solve the BlitzBoks’ problems

WATCH as Boks Office host Hanyani Shimange and his guests – South African legends Jean de Villiers and Brian Habana, as well as two-time World Cup winner Damian Willemse – solve the BlitzBoks’ problems

The 25-year-old relived the moment on RugbyPass’ ‘Boks Office’ recently at the HSBC SVNS Cape Town, shedding some light on the decision, and how it was a plan conjured by the South African coaching staff, which is not out of character at all from Rassie Erasmus.

“That was a strategic plan by the coaching staff,” the double World Cup winner said to de Villiers, Bryan Habana and Hanyani Shimange.

“The thing that made it work was the flow of the game, the time of the game, no one was expecting it. Even the forwards didn’t know when we were going to call it. We said we’re going to have a time in the game where our forwards were still fresh, when we had the upper hand or when we needed a big play. So yeah, obviously the play was called at the right time and then obviously the forwards did their thing and got us the penalty.

The fullback then went on to explain what was going through his mind the exact moment he called for the scrum, bearing in mind how disastrous the result could have been in the context of the match, and tournament had they not won a penalty at the scrum.

Mark-to-scrum?

Bold but brilliant from Damian Willemse 👏#RWC2023 | #FRAvRSA pic.twitter.com/23B0DiUfnA

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— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 17, 2023

He said: “I think they had a scrum and then they played the ball to Louis Bielle-Biarrey and caught the ball and just whacked it. Then the ball was coming and I saw it and I was like ‘now, now, now!’ And when I caught the ball, I was like ‘just do it!’ Then I was like ‘is this the right time? Am I making a mistake here by calling it now?’ But as I said, I could also feel the flow of the game there and it was on my mind and we’d been training it all week. As I said, it had been a strategic plan from the coaches.

“When I caught the ball and I put it down and then I was looking at the forwards, I saw Frans [Malherbe] and everyone jogging back, and then I called the scrum and then the ref was nodding at me and was like ‘are you sure?’ I said ‘yeah’, called the scrum, walked and I was like ‘OK, please dear God, let this get a result here.”