Vodacom Bulls winger Sebastian de Klerk said Willie Le Roux was not to blame for some of the mistakes against the Sharks and people underestimated the influence that Le Roux had on the Vodacom Bulls.
"Goosen is a very good player with a lot of experience. We have a lot of depth on the team at 10 with Boeta and Jaco there as well. I personally haven't played a game with Willie at flyhalf, however, I still feel like he's well-suited for that position."
"He has really good vision when it comes to the kicking game. He understands momentum really well. I think it reflected poorly in the last game. We lost in a lot of other places, like the kicking game."
“So then it is easy to look for scapegoats and to say Willie played badly. When he is at 15, how many times does he pop up on the 10 channel? He doesn’t feel out of place to do that, but it is rather small things that come up, when he has to recycle and when he doesn't. But it's just an unfortunate habit that takes a long time to learn. It's not like he makes a lot of mistakes in the game."
"We have a lot of confidence in Willy. I think everyone in our squad knows how much he means to us. With him on the pitch, there is a calmer atmosphere. He has a way of keeping himself calm, to being on the right side at the right time. From my side, how he's helped me a lot."
“I can’t stress enough how important Willie is for the Bulls. He is someone who gets a lot of criticism and too little praise for what he does on the field."
"When Jake says he is like a coach on the field, it isn’t that he physically coaches you, rather that he identifies space on the field and will point you to areas which he knows from experience works.
"He has an ability to sum up a game very well. The communication from outside is there and he gets the necessary information."
"He backs himself and sometimes it doesn’t come off, but what rugby player doesn’t do that? I also do it, and also make mistakes. Willie is so good, but people tend to look at his mistakes more than the things that he does well."
"This past weekend against the Sharks there were a few times he did amazing work to cover space in the backfield. People miss that, but it is that small detail that makes him so good."