Willie to support ‘confident’ Keagan

Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White says flyhalf Keagan Johannes will benefit from Willie le Roux’s presence at fullback during Saturday’s match against Leinster at Loftus.

Johannes will make just his second start of the season in 10 appearances across the Vodacom URC and Investec Champions Cup, having last worn the No 10 jersey in the 17-15 win against Benneton in Treviso last October.

Le Roux returns to fullback having played flyhalf in the Bulls’ previous three matches in the absence of the injured Johan Goosen.

“Keagan started against Benetton, who we beat away from home,” White said when explaining the selections. “They are a big team to beat if you look at their results this season and the number of Italy internationals in their team. I’m fully confident that Keagan will be OK [against Leinster]. He’s trained well and he’s got confidence.

“Moving Willie back to fullback was just to give Keagan a bit more calmness, guidance and understanding from the back. Willie can really go through scenarios with him on the field in pressure situations and hopefully help him to play as well as he can.”

PICK ’EM: Bulls bash Leinster, Lions edge Cardiff

White said he was in no rush to get Goosen back on the field.

“He’s running now and training. He’s one of those guys who was out for a long time, then he came back and got injured again.

“So I think the secret now, with him and all the other players who we’re going to be bringing back, is that I want them to be mentally switched on and 100% committed to the fact that they’re in and that they are ready to play at this level. I can’t have any doubt.

“So I think we will keep training with Johan and see when the time is right for him to play.”

TEAM: Hanekom back, Willie at 15

White made 11 changes (including positional) to the starting XV that beat the Stormers at Loftus three weeks ago, many of which he claimed were going to be made anyway.

“As I’ve said before, we’re not going to keep the same group of players [for every match], it’s been a long season and I said in week one that we’re going to keep rotating the team.

“There’s been a balance between giving guys opportunities and keeping some continuity. You obviously can’t make 15 changes.”

MORE: Ludwig ready to ‘battle’ RG Snyman

Leinster arrived in Pretoria last Sunday without their 16 Ireland internationals, who are being rested following the Six Nations with the Investec Champions Cup playoffs in mind. White, though, refused to label them a ‘B team’.

“The only people who are calling them a B team are you guys, the media. We’re not for one minute saying it’s a B team.

“This Leinster team is unbeaten and they are definitely the leaders in our competition in terms of creating depth and understanding that they’re not going to have their best [Ireland] players all the time. And they’re still unbeaten.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re better this year after bringing in guys like [France prop] Rabah Slimani, [All Blacks centre/fullback] Jordie Barrett and [Springbok lock] RG Snyman. They’ve already got [Irish] players there who are really talented and they’ve been made stronger by surrounding them with really seasoned campaigners.”

– Get the latest issue of SA Rugby magazine, with Cameron Hanekom on the cover!

Photo: Nokwanda Zondi/BackpagePix