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.

First-half frustrations

The Springboks put on a wretched first-half display as they returned to playing in front of a capacity crowd at home. And they only grew more frustrated as the Wales pack, splendidly cohesive and determined, stymied their rolling mauls and stood up in the collisions. The home side barely fired a shot despite enjoying enough territory and possession. The maul – largely nullified by Wales – and speculative kicks seemed to be their only attacking weapons.

Elton Jantjies had a particularly poor time. His kicks out of hand were often miscued, including one penalty that went touch-in-goal. He also missed a couple of shots at goal and spilled the ball that led to Rees-Zammit’s second try.

Wales, on the other hand, were clinical in punishing whatever mistakes the Springboks made in their own half, with rampant wing Louis Rees-Zammit scoring twice.

Back from the dead, impetus from the bench

Trailing 3-18 at halftime and wondering where their next points would come from, the Springboks certainly came out with fire in their bellies, no doubt after a roasting from coach Jacques Nienaber.

Their maul was revitalised thanks to greater purpose, but especially because they introduced some variation with peels off the side to split the Welsh defence.

Willie le Roux had replaced Elton Jantjies from the start of the second half and brought some direction to the backline. But the real difference came up front where the bomb squad forwards came on and smashed. The lift in intensity was palpable and debutant Elrigh Louw made a storming run into the shadow of the poles to help set up Cheslin Kolbe’s crucial try.

Dependable Damian, desperate Dan

With Jantjies off, South Africa did not really have an ace goalkicker on the field for the second half, but Damian Willemse stepped up admirably. Solid in general play at fullback and then rotating well with Le Roux at flyhalf, as well as providing some slick attacking touches, Willemse kicked two conversions, including one from the touchline, which was crucial in a tight game.

Never mind his moment of glory, stepping up to take the angled penalty after the final hooter that won the game and spared the Springboks’ blushes after they conceded a maul try to a pack that had two forwards in the sin-bin.

This year has seen the talented Willemse blossom as a highly dependable performer.

Wales captain Dan Biggar, by comparison, had an evening that rivalled Jantjies’ for awfulness. He seemed to be having a running battle through the match with the Springboks and the referee, was yellow-carded in the second half, and then it was his deliberate knock-on which gave South Africa their matchwinning penalty.

Wiese: Prim and powerful

Eighthman Jasper Wiese was a deserved man of the match. One of the few Springboks to shine in their disjointed first half, he was a phenomenal ball-carrier, averaging four metres per carry, and made some crunching tackles. It was also most pleasing that all his ferocity did not come at the cost of his discipline. Wiese has conceded several penalties in the past, but on Saturday night he was prim and proper and kept his nose clean.

Veteran Springbok fullback Willie le Roux may have ceded the No.15 jersey to Damian Willemse for the first Test against Wales in Pretoria on Saturday, but he will still be on the bench, with coach Jacques Nienaber saying he is “crucial to our attacking game-plan”.

The 32-year-old Le Roux, who gets more than his fair share of criticism, could earn his 73^rd cap on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld and statistics prove the value he adds in often being the spark for the South African attack.

Acoording to a tweet released by Opta statistics on Tuesday, Le Roux has made the most offloads (40) and try-assists (35) of any Springbok since making his Test debut in 2013.

“Willie has lots of experience and he brings a lot to the team through the week,” Nienaber said on Tuesday. “He has knowledge to impart for the youngsters.

“I know people have lots to say about Willie, but look at how many times he makes the last pass to allow us to score a try. You must be able to see space and create to do that.

“What Willie does for our attack is outstanding. Sometimes he looks average in other areas and he always gets criticism, but the reality is he does lots and is crucial to our attacking game-plan,” Nienaber said.

While South African fans have been loving the exciting new talent that has exploded on the scene through the United Rugby Championship, Nienaber said youth will have to wait to be given its head.

“It was a tough selection to get to the final 23, but we have a plan in terms of what we want to achieve. We could have selected other players who would not have dropped the team,” Nienaber admitted.

“Hopefully we will see those guys operating in the near future for the Springboks. To get youngsters into the team is always a balancing act. You want to do it when you have momentum, because that makes it easier for them.

“And the only way to get momentum is by winning. It’s not easy to bring new guys into the team when the confidence is low.

“Sure, new faces will bring a bit of energy and renewal to the team, maybe some creativity, but you also want to be able to build that momentum,” Nienaber said.

When Willie le Roux hared off to Wasps in 2017 he knew that he was putting his Springbok career at risk such were the stricter rules surrounding the use of overseas players at the time. But he was still in the Green and Gold two years later and his experience at fullback was important in winning the 2019 World Cup.

And now, with almost another two years having passed, Le Roux is still the first-choice fullback at an evergreen 31-years-old. This is both a blessing and a concern because should the Toyota Verblitz star get injured, it is probably the position in the squad for the series against the British and Irish Lions where coach Jacques Nienaber has the least back-up, especially with Warrick Gelant unlikely to recover in time from his ACL surgery.

Damian Willemse was a late call-up to the World Cup squad as a replacement for Jesse Kriel and has only accumulated six caps. His recent form for the Stormers has been promising rather than spectacular and there are many who believe Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi should now be considered the back-up to Le Roux.

Fassi himself is uncapped though and the development of his undoubted talent was put back a bit by the serious shoulder injury he suffered last year.

So fullback looks a little thin for Nienaber’s liking, and he could be looking at utility players like Francois Steyn, Johan Goosen or Raymond Rhule to provide cover there or maybe even Kriel, Handre Pollard or Sbu Nkosi in an emergency.

In terms of the all-important tight five, while there is pleasing depth in the front row and lots of in-form Black stars like Bongi Mbonambi, Lizo Gqoboka, Ox Nche, Scarra Ntubeni, Joseph Dweba and Trevor Nyakane to choose from, injuries have marred Nienaber’s options at lock.

World Cup winners RG Snyman and Lood de Jager are both racing against time to be fit and are unlikely to make the 45-man squad that will be announced on Saturday.

While the Springboks’ starting pair of Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert are absolutely world-class, there is a lack of experience thereafter.

Marvin Orie has been capped only three times and Jason Jenkins has played just a solitary Test. The other two main contenders for a place – Ruan Nortje and JD Schickerling – would both be making their international debuts.

Toulouse hardman Rynhardt Elstadt has helped his French club to European glory and top of the log domestically, and can cover lock as well, but has played just two Tests. The Springbok management will be loathe to move Pieter-Steph du Toit to the second row given what a tremendous impact he has had playing on the flank.