Bernard Le Roux (; born 4 June 1989) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n-born French

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who recently played as

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

for French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

side

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

. As indicated by his family name, Bernard Le Roux has French roots, his Le Roux ancestor originated from

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. On 11 July 2013, he stated to the French sport newspaper L'Equipe, "I've done some research, my family originated from the Nantes area. They first moved to Belgium and then to South Africa, a few centuries ago."

Career

Bernard's rugby career started out when playing for amateur club side A.S.R.V. Ascrum in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In 2009, he represented the

Boland Cavaliers The Boland Cavaliers () are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual SA Cup and Currie Cup tournament. They draw players from the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Cape Winelands and West Coast District Municipality, ...

in the 2009 Vodacom Cup, where the Cavaliers finished sixth in the Southern Section. He played in just 4 matches that season, all of them brief appearances from the bench. In addition to the Cavaliers, he spent some time with the

Border Bulldogs The Border Bulldogs () is a South African professional rugby union team based in East London that participates in the annual Currie Cup competitions. They are governed by the Border Rugby Union (BRU). History The Border Rugby Football Union go ...

during the 2009 Currie Cup First Division, in which the Bulldogs finished fifth in the Division. Le Roux was tempted by

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

winning coach

Jake White Jacob Charles White (born 13 December 1963 as Jacob Westerduin) is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 ...

to sign with the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

for the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super Rugby, Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3� ...

. However, a call the night before he was due to sign the Lions contract convinced him that a short-term medical wildcard contract with Racing 92, then known as Racing Métro, would be better – with the aim of perhaps signing with the Lions after the stint was over. However, Le Roux explains that he "fell in love with the country, the culture and the rugby environment", and remained on with Racing Métro after his short-term contract. He signed a three-year contract to start with, but a call up to the French senior squad for the 2013 French tour of New Zealand, being eligible through residency laws, was too tempting to decline, and a re-sign with Racing Métro was inevitable after the tour with 'Les Bleus'. He made his first appearance for France when playing against

Super Rugby 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 ...

side the Auckland

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

on 11 June 2013. He started in what was a 38–15 victory. Le Roux made his test debut 4 days later in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, starting and playing the full 80 minutes in a 30–0 defeat to the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. Since being named in that 38-man squad for the All Blacks tour, Le Roux has featured in every French squad

Philippe Saint-André Philippe Georges Saint-André (; born 19 April 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer and was most recently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wi ...

has announced, with Saint-André "looking to build something for the next World Cup" (the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

). He represented France for the first time in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, starting in the game against the USA.

Honours

: 2015–16

External links

France profile
at FFR

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Roux, Bernard 1989 births Living people Afrikaner people France international rugby union players French people of South African descent Racing 92 players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Moorreesburg South African people of French descent People of Norman descent 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players South African expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen South African emigrants to France Naturalized citizens of France Naturalised rugby union players South African rugby union players French rugby union players 21st-century French sportsmen