Ken Borland

Springbok fullback Willie le Roux may be 34 years old and a double World Cup winner, but he says he is having no thoughts of retirement, his love for the game of rugby keeping him motivated.

Le Roux began another international season in South Africa’s thrilling 27-20 win against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, the same Pretoria stadium where he played a key role for the Bulls in reaching the United Rugby Championship final.

This year has marked a return to South Africa for Le Roux, who previously played for Wasps in England (2017-2019) and Toyota Verblitz in Japan (2019-2023). But he is at pains to stress that he has not returned home for a couple of years of easy paycheques and then retirement.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to be done this year or the next, I’ll just take it season for season, but the one thing I can guarantee is that it won’t be soon,” Le Roux says of hanging up the boots that have made such an impact in the tactical kicking strategies of the Springboks.

“I look at guys like Willem Alberts and Ruan Pienaar, who still played in their 40^th year. That motivates me, why not try and get there too? It’s definitely my love for the game that keeps me going, I’m not ready to watch from the sidelines yet. I’m still just always learning and trying to get better.

“I was a bit nervous coming back to South Africa because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. When you sign for a union like the Bulls, there are expectations and I didn’t want people to say I’ve just come to Pretoria to retire. That’s definitely not me.

“There are a lot of young, good players at the Bulls and the Springboks and they can learn from me and I learn from them because they bring a different energy and they see the game differently. Your age and the number of caps you have don’t matter, you can always still learn,” Le Roux says.

The scorer of 15 Test tries for the Springboks is also closing in on two significant milestones and he admits they are in the back of his mind. Le Roux played his 94^th Test against Ireland and he should become South Africa’s eighth centurion later this year.

He is also just four Tests away from breaking the record for the Springboks’ most-capped starting fullback, currently held by 2007 World Cup hero Percy Montgomery (80).

“I know I’m close to those milestones, but that sort of thing can also catch you out. You don’t want to think about it too much because you might get injured or not play well. You must still perform to get there, so I’m not focused on that, just on playing as well as I can,” Le Roux says.

The URC ended in frustration for Le Roux and the Bulls. Having produced a majestic 56 minutes in the semi-final win over Leinster, Le Roux then suffered a concussion and was forced to endure watching from the sidelines as the Bulls faded to defeat in the final against the Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld.

“It was very sad after the previous weekend and having worked so hard the whole season, to lose a home final. And I couldn’t play, I had to watch in the stands. I don’t enjoy watching rugby because you can’t do anything about what happens on the field.

“But I can’t see myself doing something other than rugby once I finish playing, so I’ll have to sort that out. Coaching is something I’ll look into, do the courses in the meantime because you don’t want to think about finishing playing, but you have to be sorted for life after playing rugby,” Le Roux says.

It’s been one heck of a journey for the ex-Boland, Free State and Griquas player and Le Roux spoke candidly about how he had to deal with rejection early on in his career, including from current Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus. That’s despite his obvious talent and the fact he was born in Stellenbosch and educated at Paul Roos Gymnasium, two of the heartlands of South African rugby.

“I made it from a totally different route, playing for teams like Griquas and Boland. It’s tough to hear that you’re not going to get picked, that you’re not good enough. But you just have to keep knocking that door down. You can change people’s minds if you get that opportunity.

“I remember those early days when I went to Western Province and Rassie was director of rugby and he would not sign me. He said lots of things to me … but now that I’ve done what I’ve done, he tells everyone about his mistake. And I’ll always be grateful to Rassie for giving me another opportunity with the Springboks in 2018, after I had been left out the previous year and he came and saw me play at Wasps,” Le Roux says.

Once he is retired from the game he has graced at professional level since 2010, Le Roux can feel pride at the resilience he has shown, often in the face of a critical South African public ever-keen for scapegoats. But one imagines he will derive more pleasure from the many dazzling moves he has pulled off on the rugby field.

“I’ve always just wanted to express myself, experience the same joy I had as a kid playing next to the field. Andre Joubert was definitely a hero of mine and I used to love Brent Russell and the way he just accelerated into the game. And Carlos Spencer, the way he played – passing through the legs, banana kicks, crosskicks – I love to try those things.

“When you start playing, you want to attack from everywhere. When you chip-and-chase and it comes off, it looks cool, but there is always an error-rate attached to that sort of play. If it’s coming off 1/10 times then you must obviously not do it anymore, but if it works 7/10 times then you know you can have a go. One can always improve on one’s decision-making and I like to play more attacking rugby, but when it’s on,” Le Roux says with the tempered wisdom of a master of his craft.

One of the great characteristics of rugby is how quickly a team’s fortunes can turn around and the Sharks have gone, in the space of a month, from being a beleaguered team on the defensive to hot property that looks capable of challenging for silverware.

At the beginning of December, the Sharks had just axed coach Sean Everitt and were retreating into a laager as director of rugby Neil Powell tried to fend off questions about the decision and even refused to talk about Siya Kolisi apparently being injured.

But they have started January with a thumping over the Bulls, their nemeses for the last couple of years, and they have charged up into the top five of the United Rugby Championship log, with games in hand on everyone above them, as well as winning their opening two Champions Cup matches.

The strong run has coincided with Kolisi finding the sort of rampaging form that he regularly brings to the Springboks, and Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Makazole Mapimpi have also lived up to their billing as world-class internationals.

The amount of power the Sharks have when at full-strength is enough to make electricians beam with joy and Bulls coach Jake White pinpointed this as the key factor when his side was overwhelmed at Kings Park at the weekend.

But the Sharks’ biggest challenge might well be coming up. Because of the hectic schedule involving two European competitions, Powell is going to have to unplug and recharge some of those Springboks due to their workloads. Can the Sharks still maintain a push for at least one title after shedding their star players?

They have two crucial matches coming up against the Stormers in February and March, and those thrilling encounters will go a long way to deciding who wins the South African Shield in the URC.

It has also been wonderful to see the reception the Sharks’ resurgence has received from their supporters, with especially large crowds at Kings Park over the last two weekends, with around 50 000 spectators in total over the two matches against the Lions and Bulls over the festive season.

South African rugby will forever be bonded with Kitch Christie’s famous ‘high road or the low road’ scenario before the 1995 World Cup triumph, but Bulls coach Jake White says it is still too early to consider his team as being at a similar crossroads ahead of their crunch United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.

Coach Christie said it was crucial that the Springboks beat defending champions and favourites Australia in the opening match of the 1995 World Cup and take the “high road” through the tournament; defeat would mean the “low road” requiring victories over England and New Zealand before the final. South Africa pulled off a sensational 28-18 win, setting them up for an unbeaten run through the tournament they hosted.

The Bulls, having lost last weekend to the Stormers in Cape Town, are now five points behind the defending champions in the South African Shield, having played an extra game. If the Sharks beat the Bulls with a bonus point at Kings Park, then they could be within another bonus-point win of the Pretoria side, with a game in hand.

But White, who has called the late Christie his mentor, is not stressing about the log at this stage.

“We’re not at the high road or low road point yet and it’s not a do-or-die game,” White said on Friday. “It’s still so open, although we do know Leinster are the pace-setters, they always have been.

“We beat the Sharks with a bonus point at Loftus, and if the Sharks beat the Stormers twice and we win this weekend, then we would be favourites again to win the conference.

“There are still a lot of permutations between now and the end of the tournament, and not every team will win every game at home. Winning a couple of matches away is the premium.

“But we will be up against one of the strongest provincial sides, although one thing I enjoy about the URC is that a team can beat anyone on any given Saturday. That’s exciting,” White said.

Nine current Springboks is what the Bulls, who will field Johan Goosen at fullback and Chris Smith at flyhalf, are up against. The combination of Smith and Goosen played in the pivotal game-management positions when the Bulls beat the Sharks 40-27 at Loftus Versfeld at the end of October, which is why White has made that selection again.

“The last time we played the Sharks we did that and it worked well, and we didn’t have Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie then,” White said. “It means we have two kickers and two passers and can move the ball away from flyhalf.

“I’ve heard it might rain in Durban too and the Sharks don’t play much in their own half, they have a good kicking game and Makazole Mapimpi is very good in the air.

“But it’s not just a reaction to them, it worked for us at home and it gives us two guys who understand how we want to play. It’s important that Bernard van der Linde can also kick with both feet at scrumhalf,” White said.

Bulls:Johan Goosen, Canan Moodie, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Bernard van der Linde, Elrigh Louw, Cyle Brink, Marco Van Staden, Ruan Nortje (c), Ruan Vermaak, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench -Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Sebastian Lombard, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel.

The Sharks motored into a 12-0 lead after just 16 minutes, thanks to rapid recycles of the ball and tremendous direct rugby, but they then spluttered and allowed the Lions back into the game before eventually running rampant from the hour mark to win 37-10 in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Friday evening.

It was all smooth sailing for the Sharks at the start of the derby and, in the ninth minute, they kept possession through nine phases, after a strong carry by eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi, going right and then left before inside centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg broke the defensive line and passed inside for wing Makazole Mapimpi to score.

With 67% possession in the first half, the Sharks were soon back on attack and, after bashing away on the line against the stout Lions defence, they went wide, two short loop passes being followed by fullback Boeta Chamberlain knifing through for the try.

But the shift in momentum perhaps came straight afterwards as flank Jeandre Labuschagne misjudged the restart, dropping the ball, and Lions wing Edwill van der Merwe was on hand to kick through and score the try.

The Lions gained belief to go with their tireless efforts on defence, and despite making just 35 tackles to the visitors’ 105 in the first half, the Sharks went into halftime just 12-7 up.

Flyhalves Curwin Bosch and Jordan Hendrikse traded scrum penalties in the first six minutes of the second half, but the Sharks eventually showed why they were top of the log in southern hemisphere competition when SuperRugby was killed by Covid and remain one of the most highly-rated teams in Europe.

The turnaround came out of the blue as Chamberlain charged down a clearance by Lions fullback Andries Coetzee, centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg gathered and his pop pass found just the right player in scrumhalf Grant Williams, whose sheer speed from just outside the 22 made his try impossible to stop.

Having defended so much, perhaps fatigue set in for the Lions in the final quarter and they began to make basic errors. Centre Marius Louw strayed in front of the kicker, Jaden Hendrikse took a quick tap for the Sharks, Sikhumbuzo Notshe burst clear and Siya Kolisi rounded off the try.

The ever-busy Mapimpi then kicked through a dropped ball in the Lions backline, his second kick being a touch of Messi-like class, as he grabbed his second try at the death.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (2), Boeta Chamberlain, Grant Williams, Siya Kolisi. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2), Jaden Hendrikse. Penalties: Bosch, Lionel Cronje.

Lions – Try: Edwill van der Merwe. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalty: Hendrikse.