France star calls it quits, admitting ‘risk was too great’ after five knockouts in 18 months
Paul Willemse, the South African-born French lock, has announced his retirement from playing with immediate effect.
The 32-year-old, an U20 World Rugby Junior Championship winner with the Junior Boks in 2012, won 32 Test caps with France.
His last international appearance came against Ireland in February 2024, where he was red carded after receiving two yellows, and having played just twice last season with Montpellier in the Top 14, he has now called it quits 11 months after playing his final match away to Stade Francais.
He lasted just 13 minutes of that October 2024 game in Paris due to the latest juddering impact in a series of blows to his head, and he has now confirmed he won’t play again.
“After many years on the field, it is time to close this chapter,” he wrote in an Instagram message.
“Rugby was not just my career, it was my only dream, my whole life. Choosing to stop after multiple concussions has been the hardest decision I have ever made. For a long time, I tried to hold on, because when you have lived one dream, it’s frightening to imagine life beyond it. But I have come to accept it, and even find comfort.
“It was obviously impossible…”
“I thank the coaches who believed in me, especially those who shaped me as a young man. I thank my family, above all my wife, for walking every step of this road with me. And to the supporters who have followed me from South Africa to France. I carry your voices with me.
“The victories, the struggles, the lessons, I wouldn’t change any of it. It made me the man I am today. One dream ends, but the man it shaped remains.
Willemse, who missed Rugby World Cup 2023 with a cruciate ligament injury, has since given an interview to rugbyrama.fr in which he elaborated on his difficult decision to hang up his boots.
“It was hard, yes,” he began. “For me, the process was very long and for a year, I didn’t want to accept what was happening.
“I didn’t want to believe that it was the end. I then studied all the possibilities that were still open to me to be able to play rugby again. In my head, I saw myself doing two more seasons. But it was obviously impossible.
“Concussions only appeared in the last two seasons of my career. Before that, I hadn’t suffered from them… Still, towards the end, the concussions were each time more aggressive and I was knocked out much more easily than at the beginning.
“I had five knockouts in a year and a half. When I was concussed against Stade Francais, I was coming off four months of rest. In that last match, I was carrying the ball, took a little shoulder hit on the jaw and immediately, it made me sleepy.
“It was starting to get a bit much. The neurologists took this as a signal and understood that the problem was real. Since my work in the field involves poking my head into all the rucks, it was best to stop there. The risk was too great.
“A year after the last concussion, I still feel some symptoms: if I play rough with the kids, for example, I get migraines for a few hours, nausea, and even a feeling of being unbalanced.
“It’s manageable on a daily basis, but I can’t say I’m perfect either. And then, you never know what a concussion can lead to in a few years. So I had to be reasonable.”
Willemse doesn’t blame rugby for his issues, though. “I can’t be angry. Even though there’s still a lot to do, I was part of a rugby system that recognised the danger of concussions and changed its rules to try to curb the problem. In my case, it was handled well. No one ever pushed me to return early after a concussion.
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