Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus says that Willie Le Roux deserves to reach 100 Test caps but states there will be no freebies handed out.

Le Roux enters the new year with 98 Test matches under his belt, and while Erasmus does not expect him to make it to the next World Cup, he wants the full-back to raise the bat before hanging up his boots.

South Africa could play up to 16 games this year, 15 of which are set to be Test matches, with a fixture against the Barbarians included.

A fixture against Japan has also been touted but yet to be officially confirmed, with the same true for a clash with Portugal, who South Africa faced last July.

Erasmus wants to make the occasion special for Le Roux, like the Springboks did when veteran lock Eben Etzebeth reached 100 Test caps and broke the record, becoming the most-capped South African player.

Willie Le Roux to hit 100

“As a team, we enjoy each other and we are emotionally attached to one another. Not me and Willie, us and the whole team,” Erasmus said in March ahead of the first Springbok alignment camp of the year.

“If it’s a young guy coming through or an older guy in the team like when Eben played his 100th game, we wanted to get that match in South Africa and then when he broke the record.

“We would like to start a player with his 100th game and we would have loved to give Willie his last year but Fassi was just playing so well.”

While the Bok boss wants the outside back that played a pivotal role in the back-to-back World Cup successes to hit the milestone, Le Roux will still have to earn his caps.

“We don’t want to give away freebies,” Erasmus added.

“He is two games away. But Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] hasn’t played for a while, Damian [Willemse] hasn’t played for a while [Aphelele] Fassie is currently injured, Manie [Libbok] is injured, Jordan [Hendrikse] is coming through so is Siya Masuku.

“So there’s a few like Cheslin [Kolbe] who can play full-back but we will never put the personal interest above the team, but I think Willie really deserves to get to 100 games and I guess if we are playing 15 matches with 14 being Test matches, hopefully he will get his 100th this year.”

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Won’t make the next World Cup

It’s a balancing act for Erasmus who has expressed the need for younger players to take over from the ageing squad.

Last year, he went as far as to say that he believe that Le Roux has two more years of rugby in him but that the playmaker is unlikely to make the next World Cup and if he did it would be a similar situation to that of Stephen Donald who was called in the All Blacks squad in 2011 after several injuries to the fly-half stocks.

Le Roux has since extended his contract with the Bulls, snubbing overseas interest to remain at Loftus until June 2027.

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“He is at a stage in his career where he accepts his role in the team and how he transfers his knowledge and experience to the squad,” Erasmus said in August.

“How they should handle this, how to read that fly-half, when and how to cover that space. He and Aphelele are close.”

He added: “Look we want to get him to his 100th game and I think he will play another two years of rugby but I don’t think he will make another World Cup, if he does it will almost be like Stephen Donald but his role in the team now is to help the youngsters and when he plays, to help us win.

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/rassie-erasmus-wants-willie-le-roux-to-hit-100-springboks-caps-but-there-will-be-no-freebies