Ashwin Willemse (born 8 September 1981 in Caledon,

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played at wing for the national team, the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

. After winning an IRB Under-21 World Cup gold medal for South Africa in 2002, the winger set about gaining

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

experience with the

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

. Willemse's pace, speed and power contributed to him being selected for his test debut against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was included in the South Africa

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

squad and scored a solo try against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. Willemse's achievements of 2003 were topped by scooping up three awards at the annual SA Rugby function - Player of the Year, Most Promising Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. Willemse was injured for most of the 2004–2006 seasons. However, he was selected for the

Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

squad during the 2007 international season and Tri nations, and was selected for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

squad. He then signed a two-year contract with

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

, joining a host of other Springboks choosing to continue their careers abroad after RWC 2007

Willemse subsequently retired from international rugby stating "there are no controversial issues around my decision at all. I love the team, and the guys are exceptional. It was such a breath of fresh air being able to return to the Lions after some time overseas last year, and it has been so exciting. I have been able to play the best rugby of my career with the Lions, and I will miss each and every one of my teammates. The time, however, has come for me to move onto the next phase of my life". In 2012, Willemse launched the GreenSmile Foundation. It is dedicated to helping educate and create better opportunities for children from socio-economic hardships. This was also the same year that Lions4Life premiered, it was produced by GreenSmile Productions with Willemse named as Executive Producer. In May 2018, while providing live analysis, Willemse walked off the SuperSport set, as a result of conflicts with his co-presenters, Nick Mallett and

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...

. Willemse insinuated that his actions were a result of racism on the part of Mallett and Botha. Willemse requested an investigation by the

South African Human Rights Commission The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was inaugurated in October 1995 as an independent chapter nine institution. It draws its mandate from the South African Constitution by way of the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994. Commissio ...

, which was started in 2019 and closed in June 2023 due to Willemse's apparent failure to respond to further questions. In May 2024, 6 years after the SuperSport incident, Willemse's return to television was announced with a new show entitled ''BÔll & Ôll'' on the channel

EExtra eExtra is a South African digital satellite television channel owned by eMedia Holdings, offering a variety of lifestyle, dramas, telenovelas, court shows, sitcoms and movies. History e.tv as a broadcaster launched eKasi+, eToonz+, eMovies+ and ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willemse, Ashwin 1981 births Living people People from Theewaterskloof Local Municipality Cape Coloureds South African people of Dutch descent Rugby union wings South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Biarritz Olympique players South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen South Africa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from the Western Cape 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players