Rassie: Willie deserves to play 100 Tests

03/07/2025 01:51 AM

Rassie Erasmus hopes that Willie le Roux becomes the eighth Springbok centurion during the 2025 Test season.

The 35-year-old veteran fullback, who has been utilised at 10 by the Vodacom Bulls this season, currently has 98 Test caps.

With Aphelele Fassi having started eight of the Springboks’ 13 Tests last year in the No 15 jersey, and Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also in the frame, Le Roux may have to bide his time to get to the magic milestone.

“We don’t want to give away freebies and we will never put a person’s interest above the team, but I guess Willie deserves to play 100 games,” Erasmus said. “And if you have 15 matches [in 2025], with 14 being Test matches, hopefully he’ll get his 100th this year.”

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The Bok boss hinted that Le Roux would get to achieve the feat in South Africa, as Eben Etzebeth did when he became the most-capped Springbok at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit last September.

“We, as a team, enjoy each other and are emotionally attached to each other. Like when Eben broke the record, we wanted to get that match in South Africa.

“We would like to start a player when it’s his 100th game … we would have loved to give Willie [his 100th Test] last year but Fassi was just playing so well.”

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Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images

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