Neil Rautenbach

Neil Rautenbach

Personal information
Born	17 May 1991 Cape Town, South Africa
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
School(s) attended	Paarl Boys' High School
University	Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Club information
Playing position	Hooker
Current club	Griffons / Cheetahs
Youth career
2007–12	Western Province
Amateur team(s)
Years	Team
2011–14	UCT Ikey Tigers	16	(0)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Pts)^†
2014–15	Western Province	15	(0)
2015	Stormers	3	(0)
2015	Free State Cheetahs	4	(0)
2016–	Griffons	0	(0)
Representative team(s)^‡
2012	S.A. Students	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 18 October 2015. † Appearances (Points). ‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 1 April 2015.

Neil Rautenbach (born 17 May 1991 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African-born rugby union player, currently playing Super Rugby with the Cheetahs and Currie Cup rugby with the Griffons.^[1] His regular position is hooker.

Career

Youth and Varsity Cup rugby

He represented Western Province at high school level, playing for their Under-16 side at the Grant Khomo Week in 2007 and for their Under-18 Craven Week side in 2009. He joined their academy and played for the Western Province U19 side in the 2010 Under-19 Provincial Championship and for the Western Province U21 side in the 2011 and 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championships.

He also played Varsity Cup rugby for the UCT Ikey Tigers since 2011, winning the competition with them twice in 2011 (during which he made just one appearance, but was named on the bench for the final)^[2] and 2014, when he made nine appearances and played the first 72 of the final as they secured a dramatic 39–33 comeback victory.^[3]

Western Province

He made his first class debut in the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition, starting their Quarter Final match against the Pumas in Nelspruit. That turned out to be his only appearance in the competition, as Western Province lost 13–8.^[4]

He was included in their squad for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division and named on the bench for their Round Two clash against the Blue Bulls.^[5]

Free State Cheetahs

Rautenbach signed a contract to join the Free State Cheetahs from 1 July 2015.^[6]

Representative rugby

In October 2014, Rautenbach was called up to the Namibian national team for the first time prior to their end-of-year tour to Europe.^[7]

References

1. "SARU Player Profile Neil Rautenbach". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
2. "Match Breakdown: Tuks vs UCT". South African Rugby Union. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
3. "Match Breakdown: FNB NWU-PUKKE vs FNB UCT 1ST XV". South African Rugby Union. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
4. "Match Breakdown: Steval Pumas vs DHL Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
5. "Just one change for DHL WP v Bulls" (Press release). Western Province. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
6. "WP-haker, OP-stut word Cheetahs" (in Afrikaans). Netwerk24. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
7. "Namibia call up WP, Cheetahs stars". Rugby365. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.