White not blind to Willie le Roux’s errors but says ‘unfair’ to judge him now

Bulls director of rugby Jake White did not shy from acknowledging that he saw the indecisiveness and errors Willie le Roux made against the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship (URC) north-south derby at the weekend.

However, White said it is unfair to judge Le Roux’s performance and he would rather speak to him directly about whether he would still like the responsibility of playing in the flyhalf position. If he does, then he needs to show it.

Two-time Springbok World Cup-winning fullback Le Roux came off the bench to play at flyhalf against the Lions in their Jukskei derby two weeks prior, and with Johan Goosen injured for up to 10 weeks, the seasoned fullback was given the responsibility of starting at No 10 against the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend.

The Bulls were the better side on the day in the north-south derby, dominating in the scrums and at the breakdown, but nearly lost the game due to their own errors (final score 33–32).

Le Roux didn’t want the ball at times

White said sometimes Le Roux was good on the ball and at other times “he looked like a fullback trying to slot in at 10”.

“I think it is unfair for me to go, ‘he was bad or good’ because I always knew there was going to be good and bad in the fixture and the Stormers were always going to ask questions that no other team would ask us,” he said.

Speaking about Le Roux’s at-times indecisiveness, White joked he was not sure he wanted to leave him at 10 because he was “making me bloody old”.

“Did it work? There were times it worked. There were times when he wanted the ball and then he didn’t want it, so he just stood there and let the ball bounce between him.

“I mean, again, I am going to ask him ‘if you want it, you must take it. You can’t only have it when you want it’,” White said, referring to taking the flyhalf position.

The Bulls coach said another reason he moved Le Roux to flyhalf was because after losing captain Ruan Nortje and stand-in captain Elrigh Louw to injuries, Le Roux would have been positioned too far from the majority of the team at fullback to contribute his experience in calls.

So even with David Kriel or Boeta Chamberlain kicking for posts, the Bulls would benefit from having Le Roux there.

However, White said it is not always easy coming into a new position and Le Roux would need to settle into it each time.