Yes Willie is Special, but Willemse is similar when playing fullback that is…Willie,s distribution and directing of the young bunch yesterday, was Top Notch.
Actually if you look at the Bulls group, they quite a happy bunch under Jake.
Yes Willie is Special, but Willemse is similar when playing fullback that is…Willie,s distribution and directing of the young bunch yesterday, was Top Notch.
Actually if you look at the Bulls group, they quite a happy bunch under Jake.
For me, Willemse is better than Willie at a lot of things but not when it comes to creating.
And it's weird because the way that Willie creates is of the more simple skills to be good at.
When I think of Willie, I have so many memories of him getting the ball when the attack is sort of on, he changes direction slightly to shift the defence, runs towards the gap and then passes at the very last moment and when he has just about committed two defenders. He makes it look easy, and it really isn't a very difficult thing to do. It takes timing and instinct but is ultimately a basic skill that most backs learn when they are 12 years old. And it's not something backs in France, Ireland , England and NZ find difficult to do either. The Boks just don't seem able to.
I also maintain that Willie is the most technical tackler the Boks have had in their backline for easily the last 10 years. He just never misses a tackle. The vast majority of the time it ends with him squeezing the runners ankles together. He's not a powerful guy and has never looked like Kriel or some of the other muscle freaks playing these days...but I'm willing to put money of the fact that his defensive stats are in the top 5% of test backs.
Yes, having Leroux on the pitch is like having a backline coach on the field. Even though he has lost some pace, his playmaking creates space that most other SA backs can't even remotely emulate.
During Heinkeken Meyer's era, when there initially appeared to be no backline game plan, even when introduced as a winger, Leroux was able to orchestrate the attack for the Boks as a 2nd receiver.
Hopefully, he gets into coaching as he has a rugby brain, and hopefully, he can impart this onto others.
Perhaps he will have a similar role to Duane Vermuelen at the last World Cup.
Willie kicked possession away once too often for me. Never a huge fan. Don't deny he had a good skill set but I'm glad there's only one Willie le Roux in our rugby. I would pick Fassi ahead of Willie any day of the week.
Lol
Cooker in mid season form…..Rofl!
Willie has been our best playmaker for the last 10 years and is a brilliant open field tackler, well spotted by Plum. The only small man I can think of who was as clinical in open field tackling was Gio Aplon, he had much the same technique.
Oddly when Willie was moved to 10 for the Bools, it never clicked…he seems to see opportunities more clearly when he is further from the breakdown
But he was also coached to kick a lot from the 10 berth, so maybe not a definitive observation …..we all know (noob excepted) he loves to run the ball not kick.
There are very few Willie’s in world rugby let alone SA
He is a very special player - you can’t coach his vision and ability to scan, sum up and create like he does
Sacha, Marcus Smith, Russel, Libbok, Dupont are similar
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There has been no one in the last decade who can distribute like this guy can. Sure, we know he's erratic and when he's off he is a disaster, but no other back that I can think of in SA rugby can identify and exploit opportunities like he does when he's on song. The question is...why not? It's not like what he's doing is some kind of black magic. It's awareness, reading the situation and accuracy in execution. Why do we not have more backs like this?