Bok boss Rassie Erasmus admits he misunderstood Willie le Roux at Stormers

During his time in Cape Town, Erasmus believed that Le Roux was not capable of playing for even the Stormers, citing his emotional outbursts on the pitch.

However, ahead of the experienced playmaker's milestone match against Italy, where he becomes just the eighth player to play 100 times for the Springboks, Erasmus freely admits his misjudgement.

The head coach also revealed that a conversation with former Wasps boss Dai Young shifted his thinking about le Roux, who would go on to play a pivotal role in winning the Rugby World Cup with South Africa in 2019 and 2023, as well as a series victory over the British and Irish Lions.

"You don't just play 100 Test matches for your country," Erasmus remarked.

"I'm not sure what his win percentage is in those Test matches, but there are only seven players who have done it.

"Willie is an interesting character, and I understand that people don't know him personally that well; in the beginning, 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.

"He is a guy who shows what he feels and I remember talking once to a coach [Young] overseas where he plays and I said I don't understand why Willie is doing these actions, and said something that really stuck with me. He said: 'It's because he cares so much, doesn't wide his emotions.'

"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."

Now, ahead of the big day for the experienced full-back, Erasmus is happy to be proven wrong.

"So I'm very happy," he said.

"I definitely made a mistake by not keeping him at the Stormers and 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."

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