Stormers wary of ‘world-class’ Willie playing flyhalf for Bulls in URC derby

The Stormers are wary of the threat that Springbok fullback Willie le Roux will pose if he is deployed at flyhalf for the Bulls in their North-South United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In the Bulls’ most recent game, an impressive 35-22 bonus point win over the Lions at Ellis Park, Le Roux made a massive impact, coming on at flyhalf early in the second half for Boeta Chamberlain, and proceeded to pull the strings as they fought back and pulled away for the win.

With their first choice flyhalf Johan Goosen out with a knee injury for possibly another two months, the Bulls are pretty light at pivot, and after Chamberlain went off against the Lions with what seemed like a knock, he might not be available either.

Even if he is available, it was easy to see how the standard of play went up when Le Roux came onto the field, and he may very well be backed as their second choice flyhalf option going forward, although the Bulls also have veteran Jaco van der Walt available as well.

Speaking to the media at a Stormers press conference earlier this week, defence coach Norman Laker admitted that Le Roux had all the talent to play at flyhalf and that they would have to be at their best to combat that, if the Bulls decide to back him there.

World class player

“He is a world-class rugby player. You will remember he started out on the wing for the Boks before moving to 15 and he has played 98 Test matches for his country,” explained Laker.

“That is just phenomenal. I think he and Percy Montgomery (played centre and flyhalf as well) share the record for being the joint most capped fullbacks in Bok history. They both started 80 times in that position.

“He has played a lot in that role as a first receiver for the Springboks so he has plenty of experience in it. His distribution and tactical kicking are really good and he also has a calming influence on the players around him.”

On the Stormers front they may be boosted by having Bok flyhalf Manie Libbok available for selection, which would set up an extremely enticing possible battle against Le Roux.

Libbok limped off in the first half with a worrying looking knee injury during their disappointing URC loss against Leinster last time out, but it seems the injury wasn’t as serious as initially believed, with Laker expecting him to return to training.

“Manie went off (against Leinster) but we gave him a few days off to get in his Bok resting period to try and recover, and I think he’ll be back tomorrow (Tuesday) or so,” said Laker.