Want the best Coventry and Warwickshire news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here! Sign up here! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The much-anticipated arrival at Wasps of South African speedster Willie Le Roux is now only hours away.

The 27-year-old, who has 41 Springbok caps, is expected to reach the club’s Broadstreet training base on Friday.

Although this means he will not be part of the action when Dai Young’s team face Exeter at Sandy Park on Sunday, Wasps’ boss is optimistic that Le Roux will make his black-and-gold debut seven days later at Sale.

“Willie will hopefully be here before the weekend,” Wasps’ boss advised. “He has gone back to South Africa from Japan to get the relevant visas required.

“That means he won’t be available to play against Exeter, but hopefully will be OK for next week. I obviously haven’t seen him yet, but believe he is fully fit and really looking forward to arriving here.”

The Japanese Top League is developing an ever-growing reputation, and, in addition to Le Roux, whose Canon Eagles finished mid-table, has this year featured recent former Wasps George Smith and Siale Piutau.

The South African signed for Wasps last summer, and will remain at the Ricoh until the end of next season, presumably as one of the two marquee players whose costs sit outside the salary cap.

Based on recent experience of high-quality performers such as Charles Piutau and Kurtley Beale, Young believes Le Roux will face few problems getting up to speed with Wasps’ way of doing things.

“It is easier to integrate an outside back into a team than a forward or a half-back, as they haven’t got to worry about things like lineouts,” Wasps’ boss says.

“Also, the better the player, the quicker they fit in, as they tend to pick things up well and understand patterns more easily.

“You may not see the very best of them for a couple of weeks, but a player of Willie’s quality will certainly fit into our structures without too many problems.”

This signing adds to Wasps’ incredible strength-in-depth in the back three, where fitness allowing, Young will select from Christian Wade, Josh Bassett, Frank Halai, Rob Miller and Le Roux, not to mention Beale and Jimmy Gopperth, who have both worn the full back shirt on occasions this season.

“Willie can play full back or wing, and we probably see him playing more at No.15, although he’s played internationally for South Africa in both positions,” Young says.

“Kurtley Beale is perfectly comfortable playing at full back or inside centre, and Kyle Eastmond is playing well also, so maybe these selection headaches everyone keeps saying I’m going to have will arise at some point, and I’m looking forward to that.

“I’m a big believer that we need an attacking No.15 who can beat people, and Rob Miller has done a great job for us this season, as has Kurtley when he’s been there.

“KB is also a good distributor in the No.12 channel, so that gives us plenty of options, as well as guys on the bench who can come on and make a difference.

“If we get to semi-finals and finals I’ll have to put my neck on the chopping block and pick a team, but until then it’s about getting through the games with the squad we’ve got and putting yourself in a position to achieve something.”