Username
Password
New Signing: Ben Willis
By The Prof June 26 2003
Ben Willis was born in New Zealand and was a part of the New Zealand Academy and junior teams before moving to Ireland and representing Ireland A (his grandfather was from Dublin), let’s hope he will be as influential as our previous New Zealand scrum half – Billy Fulton.
Name: Ben Willis Ben Willis
Position: Scrum Half
Place of birth: Auckland, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 08/10/1976
School: King’s College, Auckland
Height: 5' 9" (1.75m)
Weight: 14st (90kg)
Previous Teams: Waikato, Grenoble, Blackrock, Leinster
Signed for: 2 years (2003/4 – 2004/5 seasons)
Representative Honours: NZ Academy, NZ U19, Ireland 'A'

He has a short and stocky build (his height is variously quoted somewhere between 5’7” and 5’9”) but also has a very sharp turn of pace which has seen him break through defences when darting from the back of the scrum. He scored for Leinster against both Leicester and Leeds in the Heiniken Cup in 2002 and in March 2003 he scored a brace of tries against our dear friends Wasps (sorry London Wasps). In 2002 he represented Ireland A and scored in their emphatic 60-3 win over Scotland.

In his native New Zealand he played alongside the likes of Bruce Reihana, Walter Little, Jonah Lomu, Ian Jones, and Greg Smith.

He made the transition from Waikato to Leinster by way of Grenoble where he played for a short time in 2000 before being snapped up by the Irish province. When he first started appearing for Leinster he was often called off the bench just before the final whistle in games that were already won. It isn’t the best way to be treated if you are a quality professional rugby player – perhaps that is why we have been lucky enough to pick him up.

As well as being a rugby player he is also a trained physiotherapist so hopefully he will have the knowledge not to pick up too many injuries, although a shoulder injury did sideline him from the Leinster team for a while.

Let’s hope he gets more of a chance to play with the skill that we know he has, John Kingston has known him for a long time and rates him highly. Will he be our first choice scrum half for next season? The pre-season training and friendlies will give the management the answer but it is a strong possibility.

Bookmark or share this story with: