Humble Willemse credits 'selfless' Elton Jantjies for statement showing as Bok pivot

An official Man of the Match award on his "debut" as a Springbok flyhalf proved an unexpected bonus for Damian Willemse, but he was never going to take the credit for it.

Instead, the gifted play-maker - who delivered an encouraging showing at pivot to illustrate his growing maturity at the highest level - praised the influence of fellow teammate Elton Jantjies for his performance.

Willemse was the direct beneficiary of Jantjies (hand) and Handre Pollard (knee) both sustaining injuries last week in Adelaide that ruled them out of contention for the eventual 24-8 win over the Wallabies in Sydney.

Yet, as has become part of his legend, Jantjies shrugged off his wretched luck and once again delivered on being the selfless non-playing, value-adding member so cherish by the Bok staff.

"Elton's been massive, he’s an absolute team guy," said Willemse.

"The way he's helped me as a mentor when I came in as youngster in 2018 has been amazing. He's helped me a lot with my kicking and my general play.

"I have to give him credit for my performance. He kept me calm and assisted me with my preparation during the week. He's just such a selfless guy all round. Hats off to him."

The legendary Lions flyhalf's serene influence was probably part of the reason why Willemse believes his outing wasn't as taxing as he expected.

"It wasn't really that tough. I've been playing there at times since the Wales series," he said.

"Tonight was maybe a bit of a different role. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great honour but a lot of responsibility. I can’t take all the praise for my performance.

"Many people backed me and I have to say that the forwards gave a great platform."

Willemse was particularly impressive in spearheading South Africa's overall bigger