Willie le Roux has accepted that he is not every SA rugby supporter’s cup of tea, but the Springbok fullback can’t wait to resume his domestic career in the Republic.
Le Roux, who started all of the Boks’ 2023 Rugby Championship Tests, joins the Vodacom Bulls from next season on a three-year deal that will see him stay at the Pretoria outfit until June 2026.
The 86-Test World Cup winner is the most-capped back of the current Bok squad, and invaluable to South Africa’s defence of the Webb Ellis Cup in France, yet divides the opinion of fans like no other.
Despite registering his 45th try assist for his country – the most by a Bok – against the All Blacks three weeks ago, Le Roux was among those lambasted after the world champions lost in Auckland.
The 33-year-old, though, has built a thick skin and believes that any public interest in the Boks, positive or negative, is healthy.
“Good criticism or bad criticism, we always say that is good for the Boks. It means the people care, you want that,” he said. “If they don’t say anything, they don’t care about a guy playing for the Springboks.
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“As a player, you have to live with it, you can’t let it get you down. You have to move forward. As long as the support staff behind me backs me, that’s good. Half the people like me, the other half don’t. It is what it is.”
Having brought the curtain down on his five-year stint in Japan with Toyota Verblitz, the veteran playmaker will slot into a back three at the Bulls that also features Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie.
Le Roux added: “I’ve been overseas for quite a while in my career, and I felt it was the right time to come back home. To see the family a lot more so that they can come to watch me play on the weekends. That is a big thing for me.
“The Bulls came through for me, and I look forward to working with Jake [White]. They have a good squad there.
“It’s massive and unbelievable to see what those guys can do when you give the ball to them early. They are the steppers and have so much speed. The energy they bring actually keeps you young, it keeps you going with them and you try to stay with them.
“As an older guy, it’s good for you to run around with the younger guys like Moodie. He is 20 years old, and I am 33 so there’s a 13-year difference but we try to stay with them. You feel like you are younger.”
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