# Willie le Roux

Willem Jacobus le Roux (born 18 August 1989) is a South African professional 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 the Blue Bulls in the United 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 as one of the best fullbacks of his generation.

## Club 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. 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, Le Roux established himself as one of the top players in South African domestic rugby.
Upon moving to the Griquas in 2012, Le Roux was instantly called up to the Cheetahs Super Rugby squad. He made his debut in Week 1 of the 2012 Super Rugby season as a half-time substitute for Dusty Noble as the Cheetahs narrowly lost 25–27 to the Lions in Johannesburg. 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. His second season proved even more successful as he helped the Cheetahs reach the play-offs with a further 6 tries in 17 matches.
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.
He left the Cheetahs after the 2015 Super Rugby season to spend some time playing in Japan with Canon Eagles before joining the Sharks for 2016.
In August 2016, English Premiership side Wasps announced Le Roux would join them in January 2017 after finishing his commitments with the Canon Eagles. He left Wasps in 2019 having played 57 games and scoring 65 points.
On 5 May 2019 Le Roux returned to Japan to sign for Toyota Verblitz in the Top League from the 2019–20 season.
On 4 July 2023, Le Roux returned to South Africa to join the Blue Bulls, where he began playing after the Springboks' World Cup campaign. He made his debut on 25 November 2023 against Connacht in the United Rugby Championship scoring one try in their 53-27 win.

## International career

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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
In 2014, he was one of five nominees for the IRB Player of the Year award.
Le Roux was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.
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 have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions, 25 of whom are South Africans.

## Springbok statistics
### Test Match record

    As of 27 November 2022
| 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

### International Tries

| Try | Opposing team | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result | Score |
| 1 | Australia | Brisbane, Australia | Suncorp Stadium | Rugby Championship | 7 September 2013 | Won | 12 – 38 |
| 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 | 0 – 28 |
| 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 |
| 10 | England | London, England | Twickenham | End-of-year rugby test series | 12 November 2016 | Lost | 37 – 21 |
| 11 | England | Johannesburg, South Africa | Ellis Park | Test match | 9 June 2018 | Won | 42 – 39 |
| 12 | New Zealand | Wellington, New Zealand | Westpac Stadium | Rugby Championship | 15 September 2018 | Won | 34 – 36 |
| 13 | New Zealand | Mbombela, South Africa | Mbombela Stadium | Rugby Championship | 7 August 2022 | Won | 26 – 10 |

## Super Rugby statistics

    As of Dec 2016
| 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 | Total | 71 | 69 | 2 | 5428 | 21 | 105 | 4 | 0 |