'To all the critics, I ask that you lay it off' — Jake White on Willie le Roux signing for Bulls

Bulls coach Jake White is amazed at how his new signing and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Willie le Roux has quickly fitted in at Loftus Stadium.  

Le Roux, who started working with White and his new teammates this week, has been selected to start at fullback in the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture against confident Connacht at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday (5pm).  

The veteran Springbok star joins White’s herd on the back of helping South Africa defend their World Cup title in France.  

Before that, the utility back was playing club rugby in Japan for Toyota Verblitz for the past three years and also spent two years in England with Wasps.  

White is thrilled to have the 34-year-old as part of his arsenal in the battle to conquer the URC and Champions Cup for the first time and dismissed anyone criticising the signing of Le Roux.   

“I have never coached him, but I watched him play back in the day in Boland as an U-19 and never realised he would end up being what he is now. I read on social media what people say about him and cannot believe what I see,” White said.  

“He has only been here for a week but it feels like he has been here for six months, he is unbelievable. He is like having a coach there.  

“He is clever and extremely skilful, I cannot wait for tomorrow [Saturday] to see how he goes because I am sure people will see the value he has,” he said.  

“To all the critics, I ask that you lay it off because he is probably one of the best, if not the best player, to have played for the Boks and if he is not the best he is definitely the cleverest,” the World Cup-winning coach said.  

“The guy is unbelievable and I cannot believe it has only been a week. Even when he was at the World Cup he was asking for the defensive and attacking plays, wanting to understand what we are doing and now that he is here it feels like he has been here for a whole season. I can now understand why he gets picked week in and week out.  

“In one week, I can’t believe what he has been able to do. It is like having a coach there, a coach who understands the game.  

“I did hear this from the other players before arriving here, Canan [Moodie], Kurt-Lee [Arendse], Marco [van Staden] all said he is unbelievable to play alongside and now I see it too.  

“Hopefully everybody else sees it too.”  

While the Bulls are excited about the arrival of Le Roux and the return of their other Bok stars, they have to do without co-captain Marcel Coetzee who has been suspended for three games.  

This after he was red carded in the defeat against Edinburgh last week for a dangerous tackle.  

“I went to his hearing, wanting to see how it works out, but I did not get involved. It would be difficult for them [the hearing committee] to go in there and not back their referee because that would say they do not back the ref. It is not ideal, but it is the nature of what we have to deal with now,” White said.  

“The blooding in of young guys, a year later, has given me and this team more confidence, even if we do not stick with the same guys. It’s also good to not stick with one group of players because it doesn’t do well for the guys not on the field.”  

White expects the Irish side to be high in confidence when they go to Loftus, thanks to their morale boosting win over the Sharks in Durban last weekend.  

“They are a good team. You do not go to Durban and win there, especially after they had just flown in. They are certainly one of the most in-form teams at the moment,” White said.

“I know Andy Friend well, and I think they have changed a few things. They are a difficult team to beat and they beat us by playing direct rugby when we played them away from home. We saw it again when they played last week, once they get closer to the try line they go for it,”  

“Their result against the Sharks will give them confidence coming to Loftus. However, we must not get sucked into that but rather focus and do what we need to do from our side.”

Bulls Team: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Reinhardt Ludwig, 5. Ruan Nortje (Captain), 6. Marco van Staden, 7. Elrigh Louw, 8. Nizaam Carr, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 11. Sergeal Petersen, 12. David Kriel, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Willie le Roux.

Replacements: 16. Simphiwe Matanzima, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Cyle Brink, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Canan Moodie.