South Africa 38-16 Wales
Willie le Roux world's best fullback: Heyneke Meyer
ESPN Staff
June 15, 2014
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Willie le Roux has been praised for his work in South Africa's win over Wales © Getty Images
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Springboks fullback Willie le Roux was heaped with praise following the Springboks emphatic 38-16 first-test victory over Wales. Coach Heyneke Meyer praised the fullback after he took part in four of the side's five tries and scored an excellent individual try that saw him cut apart the Welsh defence.

"Willie is probably the best fullback in the world at the moment," Meyer told a news conference. "He is playing with a lot of confidence and has a licence to express himself. I am very happy about his progress. I challenged him to improve his aerial skills and defence last season and he did that very well."

But it wasn't just the Springboks coach who heaped praise on his star player, but Wales coach Warren Gatland also praised the star. Describing Le Roux as a "pest", Gatland followed up describing him as "probably the best fullback in the world right now."

However, Gatland was less satisfied with his own side. "They won the collisions in the first half but the boys got to grips with the speed of the game in the second," Gatland said.

"Some of the guys who came off the bench did very well and [fly-half] Dan Biggar had a good game. We have to work hard on the breakdown this week and we need to be more competitive in the collision area. It's a big challenge to get the boys back up but if we can improve it will make things a lot easier for us."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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