Willie le Roux

Willie le Roux

Full name	Willem Jacobus le Roux
Date of birth	(1989-08-18) 18 August 1989
Place of birth	Stellenbosch, South Africa
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb)
School	Hoërskool Strand Paul Roos Gymnasium
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback / Wing / Fly-Half Current team Wasps Youth Career 2007 Western Province 2008 Boland Cavaliers Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2010–2011 Boland Cavaliers 39 (221) 2012–2015 Cheetahs 58 (90) 2012–2013 Griquas 11 (5) 2015–2017 Canon Eagles 18 (35) 2016 Sharks 13 (15) 2017–present Wasps 25 (20) Correct as of 12 January 2018 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2013–present South Africa 49 (60) 2013 Barbarians 1 (0) 2014–2015 Springbok XV 2 (20) Correct as of 29 September 2018

Willem Jacobus le Roux (born 18 August 1989) is a South African rugby union player. He is a versatile back-line player who generally plays as a fullback or wing, though earlier in his career he played mostly as a fly-half. He plays for the South Africa national team and for Wasps in the English Premiership.

Rugby career

Le Roux was born and raised in the Western Cape and he started his professional career with Boland Cavaliers. He spent 2 years with the Cavaliers, helping them to lift the 2011 Currie Cup First Division title in his final appearance.^[1][2] He moved north to join the Griquas along with several of his Boland team-mates in 2012 and started 9 of the Peacock Blues 10 games during his debut season in Kimberley. After a rocky start in which he was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Blue Bulls full-back Jurgen Visser and subsequently suspended for Griquas second match of the season^[3] Le Roux established himself as one of the top players in South African domestic rugby.^[4]

In July 2013, it was announced that Le Roux had signed a new contract with the Cheetahs until the end of 2015, which also meant that he would play for the Free State Cheetahs domestically from 2014 onwards.^[5]

He left the Cheetahs after the 2015 Super Rugby season to spend some time playing in Japan with Canon Eagles^[6] before joining the Sharks for 2016.^[7]

In August 2016, English Premiership side Wasps announced Le Roux would join them in January 2017 after finishing his commitments with the Canon Eagles.^[8]

Super Rugby

Upon moving to the Griquas in 2012, Le Roux was instantly called up to the Cheetahs Super Rugby squad.^[9] He made his debut in Week 1 of the 2012 Super Rugby season as a half-time substitute for Dusty Noble as the Cheetahs lost 25–27 to the Lions in Johannesburg.^[10] Despite this early setback Le Roux went on to have an excellent first season in Super Rugby, playing mostly on the wing he scored 7 tries in 16 appearances.^[11] His second season proved even more successful as he helped the Cheetahs reach the play-offs with a further 6 tries in 17 matches.^[11]

International

Le Roux was selected to represent the Springboks for the first time during the South African Quadrangular tournament of 2013 against Italy, Scotland and Samoa.^[12] He played the full 80 minutes of all three test matches against these teams with distinction, hardly faltering any time at full-back, and contributed to the try-making by joining the Springbok backline in sprints for the opponents' tryline.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

He also played an integral part in South Africa's 2013 Rugby Championship campaign, featuring in all six matches. He scored tries in both home and away tests against Australia and in the deciding game at home to New Zealand.^[18][19][20]

Le Roux started the 2013 end-of-year tests on the bench for the match against Wales, however an injury to starting fly-half Morne Steyn saw him enter to the fray as an early substitute in the full-back position.^[21] It was a position he was to retain for the remaining two tour matches. He turned in a particularly impressive display in the 28-0 destruction of Scotland scoring one intercept try and setting up another immediately from the restart for team-mate JP Pietersen.^[22]

On 14 June 2014, Le Roux produced a man-of-the-match performance to help South Africa beat Wales during the 2014 incoming tours, scoring a try and providing three assists.^[23]

In 2014, he was one of five nominees for the IRB Player of the Year award.^[24]

Springbok statistics

Test Match Record

Against	Pld	W	D	L	Tri	Con	Pen	DG	Pts	%Won
Argentina	6	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	83.33
Australia	6	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	10	66.67
England	3	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	66.67
France	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	100
Ireland	4	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	10	50
Italy	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	66.67
New Zealand	7	1	0	6	2	0	0	0	10	14.29
Samoa	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	100
Scotland	4	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	100
Wales	5	4	0	1	2	0	0	0	10	80
Total	40	26	0	14	10	0	0	0	60	65

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

International Tries

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	Suncorp Stadium	Rugby Championship	7 September 2013	Won 38-12
2	Australia	Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands	Rugby Championship	28 September 2013	Won 28-8
3	New Zealand	Johannesburg, South Africa	Ellis Park	Rugby Championship	5 October 2013	Lost 27-38
4	Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	Murrayfield	End-of-year rugby test series	17 November 2013	Won 28-0
5	Wales	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park	Mid-year rugby test series	14 June 2014	Won 38-16
6	Wales	Nelspruit, South Africa	Mbombela Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	21 June 2014	Won 31-30
7	Scotland	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	28 June 2014	Won 55-6
8	New Zealand	Johannesburg, South Africa	Ellis Park	Rugby Championship	25 July 2015	Lost 20-27
9	Argentina	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park	Rugby Championship	8 August 2015	Lost 25-37

Super Rugby Statistics

As of 29 June 2015

References