Willie Le Roux Adds a New String to His Bow

At the age of 35, Willie le Roux is proving he’s one old dog who certainly can learn new tricks.

For more than a decade, the man from the Western Cape has been one of the finest full-backs in the game, starring for the Springboks in two World Cup triumphs.

But now he’s adding another string to his bow, having switched to fly-half for the Vodacom Bulls.

After impressing during a 30-minute cameo in the role off the bench against the Emirates Lions last month, he has been handed the No 10 jersey for the subsequent Vodacom URC games against the DHL Stormers, Hollywoodbets Sharks and Emirates Lions.

Now he has yet another big South African derby coming up this weekend as the third-placed Bulls host the DHL Stormers in a return clash at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld.

His coach Jake White has made it clear just what an important job Le Roux is doing with the control and experience he brings to the playmaking position.

As for the man himself, he’s relishing his new role, while acknowledging it remains a work in progress.

“I still have to figure out the small adjustments, like calling the plays and getting back into the line on defence, but I am enjoying it,” he says.

“You learn something new each week. I still need to get that balance right.

“At full-back, I had plenty more time to look for space. When I’m at fly-half and calling the plays, changing the direction of the attack, one tends to look less at space and sometimes miss chances. I can work on that and maybe look up quicker to see who is in front of you defending.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s meeting with the tenth-placed DHL Stormers, the Stellenbosch-born Test star added: “We know how desperate they will be and it will be a very tough game. We want to focus on what we can do and pitch up mentally.”

Le Roux – who spent time at fly-half early on in his career – claimed one of the Vodacom Bulls’ five tries in last Saturday’s 31-19 bonus point victory over the Lions which has brought them within two points of second-placed Glasgow.

Head coach White is quick to stress the vital role being played by the much-travelled veteran, who has had spells in England and Japan, as well as with the Boland Cavaliers, Cheetahs, Griquas and Sharks in his homeland.

“There’s a lot of media talk about is he a 10,” he said.

“It’s irrelevant what position he is the best at. For me and our group, I need him close and I need him to be controlling things.

“He will make mistakes because that’s the kind of player he is. He is one of those kind of guys.

“At one point, we ran the ball and he threw a forward pass, but then you look at the pass he made for one of the tries we scored.

“As long as Willie is on the field, I just feel – especially with all the leaders that have been out – that we have got a sense of how we want to play.

“I probably erred the week before in the Sharks game. I took him off too early. I was too conservative. I should have probably left him on.

“He understands when to run it, when to kick it and that’s what makes it so different for us. When he’s on the field, there’s a little bit more guidance from him to the other players.”

White said Le Roux was key to the Vodacom Bulls pulling clear against the Lions after they had been pegged back to 17-14 at the break.

“The first 12 minutes was the best we have played in a long while against anybody. It looked at that point – 17-0 up – that it was going to be one sided, but they scored two tries and got it to 17-14.

“We almost got them by the throat, but we just try and make it so difficult for ourselves.

“What I was really happy about is after having a chat at half-time, we tightened up everything again and I put that down to Willie. That’s the importance of having him there.”

White added: “The Lions are a good team. When they start running at you, it’s difficult to defend against that.

“They are well coached, they are very fit. I was glad we could get on top of them because they are a difficult team to beat.”