Jake: Willie the man for all seasons
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Jake White said veteran fullback Willie le Roux will be pivotal for the Vodacom Bulls as the Herd go in search of their first win in gusty Galway on Saturday.
Marcell Coetzee will lead the Bulls against Connacht when action resumes in round 7 of the Vodacom URC. White's charges are in third place on the standings, a point ahead of their opponents this week.
Two-time Springbok world champion Le Roux's tactical nous, as well as flyhalf Johan Goosen's return, headline White's match-day 23 for the clash at The Sportsground.
Le Roux and Canan Moodie are among five Boks who starred in South Africa's end-of-year tour, and speaking in a Bulls conference on Friday, White extolled the value of having seasoned campaigners on deck for a tough match in Ireland.
"Playing away will always be difficult, wherever you play will always be difficult and this is an even more difficult place because of the conditions," he told reporters. "Wind is a big factor here because of the way the stadium is situated and that influences the game strategy.
"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."
TEAM: Boks beef up Bulls for Connacht duel
"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," White added.
"This is probably the one ground where you have to win the toss; it is a bit like cricket in the sense that at this ground, playing with the factors in your favour counts.
"Playing away, you get the crowd behind their home team, the wind factor, a 4G pitch which we have not played on in a long time. These are all factors we have to account for. Playing Connacht in Connacht is a tough gig for any team."
On Goosen's comeback and the availability of current Boks, the Bulls boss adds, "Goosen has been training really well. He hasn't been involved in the opening rounds of the league, and to be fair, we have done really well without him, but training-wise, we have been training completely differently with him running at 10,"
"All our Boks want to play, and that is nice to have. They also come from a really good tour with the national side, they had a good year as the Boks, surrounded by players who have been nominated as the best in the world.
“All those things are contributing factors to the positivity of where we are as a group.""
Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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