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. 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 . 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 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 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 in 2012, Le Roux was instantly called up to the 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 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.

He left the Cheetahs after the 2015 Super Rugby season to spend some time playing in Japan with Canon Eagles before joining the 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 , and . 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 and in the deciding game at home to .

Le Roux started the 2013 end-of-year tests on the bench for the match against , 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 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 beat 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.

Honours South Africa 2025 Rugby Championship winner

Springbok statistics

Test Match record

Against P W D L Tri Pts %Won 13 11 0 2 1 5 16 10 0 6 2 10 3 2 0 1 0 0 7 5 0 2 2 10 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 3 0 3 0 0 7 6 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 21 6 1 14 4 20 1 1 0 0 1 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 8 8 0 0 2 10 1 1 0 0 1 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 6 0 2 2 10 Total 101 69 1 31 15 75 P = 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 ResultScore 1 Brisbane, Australia Suncorp Stadium Rugby Championship Won12 – 38 2 Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Rugby Championship Won 28 – 8 3 Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Rugby Championship Lost 27 – 38 4 Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield End-of-year rugby test series Won 0 – 28 5 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Mid-year rugby test series Won 38 – 16 6 Nelspruit, South Africa Mbombela Stadium Mid-year rugby test series Won 31 – 30 7 Port Elizabeth, South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Mid-year rugby test series Won 55 – 6 8 Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Rugby Championship Lost 20 – 27 9 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Rugby Championship Lost 25 – 37 10 London, England Twickenham End-of-year rugby test series Lost 37 – 21 11 Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Test match Won 42 – 39 12 Wellington, New Zealand Westpac Stadium Rugby Championship Won 34 – 36 13 Mbombela, South Africa Mbombela Stadium Rugby Championship Won 26 – 10 14 Bordeaux, France Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B Won 76 – 0 15 Marseille, France Stade Vélodrome 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B Won 49 – 18

Super Rugby statistics

Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Points 2012 16 15 1 1226 7 35 2 0 2013 17 17 0 1333 6 30 0 0 2014 16 16 0 1238 5 25 1 0 2015 9 8 1 630 0 0 1 0 2016 13 13 0 996 3 15 0 0Total 71 69 2 5428 21 105 4 0