 Le Roux playing for theSpringboks in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Willem Jacobus le Roux | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1989-08-18)18 August 1989 (age 35) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Stellenbosch,South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Paul Roos Gymnasium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Willem Jacobus le Roux (born 18 August 1989) is a South African professionalrugby union player. He is a versatile back-line player who generally plays as afullback orwing, though earlier in his career he played mostly as afly-half. He plays for theSouth Africa national team and for theBlue Bulls in theUnited Rugby Championship. He was born in Stellenbosch. He is known for his vision, try assisting and ability under the high ball. He is widely regarded[according to whom?] as one of the best fullbacks of his generation.
Le Roux was born and raised in theWestern Cape and he started his professional career withBoland Cavaliers. He spent 2 years with the Cavaliers, helping them to lift the 2011 Currie Cup First Division title in his final appearance.[4][5] He moved north to join theGriquas along with several of his Boland team-mates in 2012 and started 9 of the Peacock Blues 10 games during hisdebut season inKimberley. After a rocky start in which he was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle onBlue Bulls full-backJurgen Visser and subsequently suspended for Griquas' second match of the season,[6] Le Roux established himself as one of the top players in South African domestic rugby.[7]
Upon moving to theGriquas in 2012, Le Roux was instantly called up to theCheetahsSuper Rugby squad.[8] He made his debut in Week 1 of the2012 Super Rugby season as a half-time substitute forDusty Noble as the Cheetahs narrowly lost 25–27 to theLions inJohannesburg.[9] Despite this early setback Le Roux went on to have an excellent first season in Super Rugby, playing mostly on the wing where he scored 7 tries in 16 appearances.[10] His second season proved even more successful as he helped the Cheetahs reach the play-offs with a further 6 tries in 17 matches.[10]
In July 2013, it was announced that Le Roux had signed a new contract with theCheetahs until the end of 2015, which also meant that he would play for theFree State Cheetahs domestically from 2014 onwards.[11]
He left the Cheetahs after the2015 Super Rugby season to spend some time playing in Japan withCanon Eagles[12] before joining theSharks for2016.[13]
In August 2016,English Premiership sideWasps announced Le Roux would join them in January 2017 after finishing his commitments with theCanon Eagles.[14] He left Wasps in 2019 having played 57 games and scoring 65 points.[15]
On 5 May 2019 Le Roux returned to Japan to sign forToyota Verblitz in theTop League from the 2019–20 season.[16]
On 4 July 2023, Le Roux returned to South Africa to join theBlue Bulls, where he began playing after the Springboks' World Cup campaign. He made his debut on 25 November 2023 againstConnacht in theUnited Rugby Championship scoring one try in their 53-27 win.
Le Roux was selected to represent theSpringboks for the first time during theSouth African Quadrangular tournament of 2013 againstItaly,Scotland andSamoa.[17] 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.[18][1][19][20][21]
He also played an integral part in South Africa's2013 Rugby Championship campaign, featuring in all six matches. He scored tries in both home and away tests againstAustralia and in the deciding game at home toNew Zealand.[22][23][24]
Le Roux started the2013 end-of-year tests on the bench for the match againstWales, however an injury to startingfly-halfMorne Steyn saw him enter to the fray as an early substitute in thefull-back position.[25] 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 ofScotland scoring one intercept try and setting up another immediately from the restart for team-mateJP Pietersen.[26]
On 14 June 2014, Le Roux produced a man-of-the-match performance to helpSouth Africa beatWales during the2014 incoming tours, scoring a try and providing three assists.[27]
In 2014, he was one of five nominees for theIRB Player of the Year award.[28]
Le Roux was named in South Africa's squad for the2019 Rugby World Cup.[29] South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeatingEngland in the final.[30]
Le Roux was named in South Africa’s 33 man squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating New Zealand in the final. He is one of 43 players who havewon the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions, 25 of whom are South Africans.
| Against | P | W | D | L | Tri | Pts | %Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 83.33 |
 Australia | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 57.14 |
| British and Irish Lions | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
 England | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 66.67 |
 France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Ireland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
 Italy | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
 Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 New Zealand | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 20 | 23.53 |
 Samoa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Scotland | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 100 |
 United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Wales | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 71.43 |
| Total | 83 | 54 | 1 | 28 | 14 | 70 | 65.06 |
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
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Points |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Cheetahs | 16 | 15 | 1 | 1226 | 7 | 35 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013 | Cheetahs | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1333 | 6 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Cheetahs | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1238 | 5 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | Cheetahs | 9 | 8 | 1 | 630 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | Sharks | 13 | 13 | 0 | 996 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 71 | 69 | 2 | 5428 | 21 | 105 | 4 | 0 | |
