Willie le Roux set to play big role for Bulls in windy Galway

Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White is thrilled to be able to call on the experience of 98-cap Springbok veteran Willie le Roux for what is expected to be a difficult United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in poor weather against Connacht in Galway on Saturday evening (7:15pm).

With tricky weather conditions expected at the Sportsground, which has been a fortress for the Irish side over the years, the Bulls will have their backs up against it, especially having never won there before, although the Lions and Stormers proved it wasn’t impossible last season.

Key to them giving the hosts a run for their money will be the form of Le Roux, fresh off Bok duty from their end-of-year-tour to the UK and White explained that he would play a huge role for them in the match.

“Playing away will always be difficult, wherever you are, and this is an even more difficult place because of the conditions. Wind is a big factor here because of the way the stadium is situated and that influences the game strategy,” explained White.

“I am expecting a really tough game, and what I really want is to see the things we have put into place over the last three weeks, which is a little bit of extra resilience on our tryline, which we will need for this game.

“I am glad to have Willie back with us this week because one thing he can do is control the game from the back, so he will be massive for us because the wind at this ground can influence your game, unlike the stadiums we have back at home, which are closed off.”

Champions Cup

In naming a strong team for the match, the Bulls also had to keep one eye on next weekend’s game against English giants Saracens at the start of the Champions Cup competition.

White explained that by the end of these two games some players would have been touring for over two months, after the Bulls’ three week overseas tour, followed by the Boks’ four week end-of-year-tour and another two week tour to the UK.

The Bulls boss added the selection for this weekend’s game was influenced by the fixture against Saracens. “Also playing 4g to 4g (pitch) and into Champions Cup next week. That does influence things a bit because you want to make sure that you are ready for that as well and give yourself a fair chance. But I also don’t want to jump ahead and worry about Saracens.

“We still have to play Connacht in Galway which is a tough gig for any team, so it is a little bit of both. But it’s not all ideal.

“With this a two week tour (overseas), some guys like Grobbies (Johan Grobbelaar) and Cameron (Hanekom) will be into their eighth week on tour and next week will be their ninth.

“So it’s not all smooth sailing. But we are doing this to give ourselves the best chance to make the playoffs in all competitions. Because once you make the playoffs you have your full strength squad with everyone available and give yourself a fair chance to get to the end of the tournament.”