Long live the legend of the Assist King Willie Le Roux: The ‘unselfish, under-appreciated’ Springboks warrior
Springboks full-back Willie Le Roux in 2023 with a crown edited on his head and 2019 Rugby World Cup finals.
Some players are never truly appreciated until they retire, others maybe not even then. Springboks great Willie Le Roux sits somewhere in the middle.
It’s an absurd thought for a player about to earn his 100th Test cap for South Africa with a trophy cabinet filled with everything he could have won in it.
But perceptions are hard to sway, and even Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus admits that he got it wrong with Le Roux and doubted his ability.
During his time in charge of the Stormers, a young playmaker from the Strand was attempting to make the step up from the academy into the senior squad but was snubbed by an ex-Springbok flanker who had assisted Jake White in the Rugby World Cup.
Rassie got it wrong
In Erasmus‘ view, Le Roux wore his heart on his sleeve too much and was overly emotional on the pitch, which didn’t make him a great fit in a team.
“I didn’t know him well at the Stormers, but I basically said he couldn’t make the Stormers squad when he was in there because of his emotional involvement in the game,” Erasmus said after naming Le Roux in the Boks squad to face Italy in Port Elizabeth.
“He is a guy who shows what he feels.”
The then-Stormers boss subsequently didn’t give the future Bok a look in the squad, leading him to ply his trade with Boland, then the Cheetahs, where he really stamped his mark.
The Cheetahs are notorious for their attacking brilliance, a team willing to get the ball wide, and there, Le Roux thrived. In the Free State, he took his game to another level, featuring in the back-three and waving his magical playmaking wand to inspire truly gorgeous tries.
After two years in the Free State, Le Roux finally convinced the perceived pragmatic Springboks boss Heyneke Meyer to give him a look-in after starring performances for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby.
Test debut
At the age of 23, against Italy in Durban, Le Roux was named in the starting lineup and helped the side to a 44-10 victory that well and truly gave Springboks fans a taste of what to come.
Stationed at full-back, he strutted his stuff in a confident display that was certainly far from perfect. He looked shaky under the high ball on occasion, overcooked a kick or two but what stood out more than anything else was what he could create with the ball in hand.
A debut try assist went begging as JJ Engelbretch spilt the ball with the try line at his mercy – soon after he linked up perfectly with Bjorn Basson to send Jean de Villiers tearing down the touchline, giving the winger a perfectly timed pass to free-up the Springboks legend who raced away to the touchline.
“So much talk about Willie Le Roux during the Super Rugby season so far in getting his Test debut, and that there was always a fear that he’d try too much, although he was given the license,” respected commentator Matt Pearce said at the time.
A telling statement from the broadcaster as Le Roux would push a pass that was on but just lacked the accuracy and attempted to get extra purchase on a kick, only for it to roll over the dead-ball line.
But every single time, he brushed it off, after cussing himself out, and went right back to it.
Still, he has since grown into a leader of the backline and a selfless one at that, passing on knowledge to up-and-coming outside backs who are set to take over the mantle once his illustrious Test career does come to a close.
“I remember talking once to a coach [presumably, ex-Wasps boss Dai Young] overseas where he played, and I said ‘I don’t understand why Willie is doing these actions’, and he said something that really stuck with me. He said: ‘It’s because he cares so much, doesn’t hide his emotions,'” Erasmus revealed.
“If you talk to anyone in the team, the way Willie looks sometimes, when he’s a little bit down or not happy, it’s definitely not a reflection of how he feels for the rest of the team. It’s just how much he cares.”
Rassie Erasmus: ‘I definitely made a mistake with Willie le Roux’
Unselfish Warrior
While Le Roux can undoubtedly be guilty of a lot, what he is innocent of is being unselfish, passionate and relentless.
All of these qualities were on full display during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, a tournament where the full-back copped his fair share of flak for dropped high balls and errors.
During the quarter-final against Japan, Le Roux played 70 minutes with no feeling in his arm after a collision with Pieter-Steph du Toit, but persisted and played through the pain.
“I didn’t want to show Rassie that I’m weak, that I drop my team, that I give up quickly,” Le Roux said on the Chasing the Sun docuseries.
“I play for my country, but I was also scared that I could have done something wrong at a certain tim,e and we could have been out of the World Cup.”
The backlash from his outing against Japan in the quarter-final led Le Roux to doubt himself and ponder his position in the squad.
“I hurt my shoulder in the win against Japan and was still feeling the effects several days later,” he told SA Rugby Mag.
“I went to speak to Rassie about the injury and the mistakes I’d made. I told him I would understand if he dropped me. I told him I would support my replacement and do all I could to help the team prepare for the next game.”
Erasmus’ response? ‘”He told me I was being ridiculous,” the full-back said. Outside the camp, everyone was asking whether Willie le Roux was the right option at fullback. My coaches and teammates had no doubt, though.”
Fellow playmaker, Handre Pollard, added: “Willie doesn’t get enough credit for the work he does off the ball.”
“Maybe people only see the end result. Cheslin Kolbe will step through the line and Makazole Mapimpi will finish in the corner. So often, however, Willie is fracturing defences with those little cross-kicks or delayed passes. You go back and look at the tries we scored at the World Cup, and almost every one has been influenced by Willie in some way.”
And that’s spot on, perhaps the nickname ‘silent assassin’ suits him better than other players. A man that creates, dictates and inspires but never steals the spotlight.
In his 99 Test caps for the Springboks, Le Roux posts a modest 15 tries scored. In stark comparison, All Blacks great Ben Smith scored 40 in 85 Tests and Israel Folau dotted down 37 times in 73. Granted, the Bok veteran is a vastly different player, but his influence is no less important, if not greater. Further evidence of this is that since his Test debut, only Beauden Barrett (69) and Aaron Smith (54) have assisted more tries than he has.
This is emphasised by Erasmus’ admission ahead of the full-back’s milestone match.
“I definitely made a mistake by not keeping him at the Stormers,” he said.
“Now he gets his 100th Test match, has won two World Cups, done a few things for Wasps, played for the Cheetahs, so we’re very proud of him and we hope we can help him make this a memorable game.”
The Assist King
Nicknamed ‘Majaivane’ by his Boks teammates, which roughly translates to ‘someone who enjoys dancing or dances a lot’, but for this writer, the Assist King fits better. An unselfish player, one who always puts the needs of the team ahead of those of his own, a man who has been the antithesis of what Springbok rugby is perceived to be. A magician for every single team he has been a part of. Boland, Cheetahs, Sharks, Wasps, Toyota Verblitz, Bulls and Boks.
Underappreciated for now, but hopefully one that one fans will love once he hangs up his golden boots, preferably before then.
Truly gifted players have graced the Springboks jersey in the past, from the likes of Percy Montgomery and Andre Joubert before him, but none has inspired change, pushed the boundaries and importantly been himself as much as Le Roux has.
Stand around a braai and raise the topic of the Springbok full-back and you will get vastly conflicting views. Blame it on recency bias, but Willem Jacobus Le Roux is the greatest full-back to grace the Springboks jersey and should be remembered as such. He deservedly earns Test cap #100 this weekend and hopefully not his last. But if it is, long live the legend of the Assist King.
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