Veteran fullback Willie le Roux will deservedly become the eighth Springbok to earn 100 Test caps when he runs out against Italy in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Le Roux took an unconventional route to Test rugby.
A product of Paul Roos Gymnasium, he played club rugby in Wellington before helping the Boland Cavaliers win the 2011 Currie Cup First Division.
After moving to Griquas in 2012, he was immediately called up by franchise partners the Cheetahs and scored seven tries in 16 Super Rugby appearances. The following season, he helped them reach the playoffs.
“My dream was always to play rugby, but I had to start with club rugby in Wellington,” Le Roux recalled in an interview with SuperSport earlier this week. “Then I moved to Boland, then Griquas, then got a shot with the Cheetahs. It was step by step.”
Le Roux made his Test debut against Italy in Durban on 8 June 2013 and played a starring role in that year’s Rugby Championship, scoring tries in both home and away victories over the Wallabies.
“I saw the game on SuperSport this week, and I couldn’t believe how I played back then,” he said of his debut. “I wasn’t scared, I just tried things. At the Cheetahs, we played an expansive game, so people cheered when it came off.
“Now that I’m older, when I try things and they don’t come off, people question why I’m still doing it. But back then, I was just a young guy expressing himself and living his dream.”
Le Roux was named SA Players’ Player of the Year in 2013 and shortlisted for the World Rugby Player of the Year award in 2014.
After stints with Japan’s Canon Eagles and the Sharks, he signed for English Premiership side Wasps, helping them reach the 2016-17 final. At the time, overseas-based South Africans were ineligible for Bok selection.
“After 42 caps, I was out of the team, but Rassie [Erasmus] brought me back in 2018,” he said. “I remember watching the Springboks play France at Ellis Park in 2017 and thinking, ‘I can’t be done – I’m still going to play.’”
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And play he did. Le Roux was South Africa’s first-choice fullback during the victorious 2019 World Cup campaign in Japan and came off the bench in the 2023 final against the All Blacks in Paris.
Club-wise, he spent four seasons with Toyota Verblitz in Japan before returning to South Africa in 2023 to join the Bulls. His influence in Pretoria – both on and off the field – was so significant that coach Jake White convinced him to extend his contract to 2027, just as he looked set for another overseas move.
Teammates and coaches rave about Le Roux’s vision, playmaking ability, calm organisation of the defence and aerial skills. But he has also faced criticism for errors at key moments, drawing the ire of Bok and Bulls fans in recent years.
“There were tough times, a lot of criticism, but I’ve always had people from Strand who supported me no matter what,” he said. “My wife watched my 50th Test [against the All Blacks] at Loftus [in 2018] and she’ll be there for my 100th too. And my family has been there since my school days.
“Coach Rassie always says, if they don’t criticise you, they don’t care. If there’s no noise, it means no one’s paying attention.”
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Now 35, Le Roux will mark his milestone cap while wearing the No 15 jersey and guiding a new-look Bok backline.
“It’s hard to take it all in emotionally,” he said. “For me, the focus is on getting through the week, on training, and not getting too excited, because anything can still happen before the game. I think once I run out on Saturday, it’ll hit me.”
Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
