He made just three substitute appearances for the Sharks U21 side in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship competition, with an ankle injury curtailing his progress.
[3] Willemse then made the move to Port Elizabeth, where he joined Varsity Cup side NMMU Madibaz.
[11] He made a total of seven starts and four substitute appearances during the campaign, scoring five tries during the campaign (two in each of their matches against the Leopards[12] and the Falcons[13] and one more against the Boland Cavaliers),[14] helping the EP Kings to second place in the competition and subsequently winning promotion to the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division.
In June 2014, he was selected on the bench for the Eastern Province Kings side to face Wales during their 2014 tour of South Africa.
[15] He made his debut in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup during the 2014 season; he started their opening match of the season against Western Province in Port Elizabeth[16] and played in the first eight rounds of the competition before an AC joint injury ruled him out of the last two rounds.