Ruan van Rensburg

Ruan van Rensburg

Personal information
Full name	Ruan van Rensburg
Born	31 May 1993 Pretoria, South Africa
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
School(s) attended	Hoërskool Waterkloof, Pretoria
Club information
Playing position	Scrum-half
Current club	Cheetahs / Free State Cheetahs
Youth career
2012–14	Golden Lions
Amateur team(s)
Years	Team
2015	Wits	8	(20)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Pts)^†
2014–15	Golden Lions	2	(0)
2015	→ Leopards	2	(0)
2015–	→ Free State Cheetahs	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 18 October 2015. † Appearances (Points). ‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 19 August 2015.

Ruan van Rensburg (born 31 May 1993 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Cheetahs Super Rugby team and the Free State Cheetahs Currie Cup team.^{[1][note 1]} His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Golden Lions

Van Rensburg attended Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria, where he played first team rugby in 2010 and 2011. After school, he moved to Johannesburg to join the Golden Lions Academy, where he made a single appearance for the Golden Lions U19s during the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

He appeared in nine matches for the Golden Lions U21s during the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, starting eight of those and scoring a try in their 45–16 victory over Border U21.^[3] The Golden Lions finished in fourth spot on the log to qualify for the semi-finals, where they lost 41–44 after extra time to eventual champions Western Province U21.^[4]

At the start of 2014, Van Rensburg was included in the Golden Lions squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition. He was named on the bench for their second match of the season against near-neighbours the Falcons, but failed to make an appearance.^[5] He made his first team debut four weeks later; he was once again named on the bench for their match against the Limpopo Blue Bulls in Polokwane and came on just after half-time to replace Ricky Schroeder, eventually helping his side to a 110–0 victory in the match.^[6] He also played off the bench in their next match against the Pumas in Alberton, this time being on the wrong end of a 27–48 defeat. The Golden Lions finished fourth to qualify for the play-offs and made it all the way to the final of the competition, where they lost 6–30 to Griquas.^[7]

He was a key player for the Golden Lions U21s in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, starting twelve of their thirteen matches. He shared the kicking duties with Hanco Deale and Brandan Hewitt for the Golden Lions, and ended the second with the second-highest personal points contribution from a Lions player behind Deale; he scored 59 points, which consisted of 25 conversions and 3 penalties.^[8] His top points haul in a single match came in their 52–12 victory over Free State U21, kicking six conversions and a penalty.^[9]

Wits & Leopards

Van Rensburg was retained by the Golden Lions for 2015, but was loaned to Potchefstroom-based side the Leopards for the 2015 season.^[10]

He started the season representing Wits in the 2015 Varsity Shield competition. He scored a try in their 39–24 win over the UFH Blues in Alice^[11] and scored fifteen points with the boot during the competition as Wits made it to the final, where they lost 24–29 to UKZN Impi.^[12]

He made two appearances for the Leopards during the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition, playing off the bench in their matches against the Griffons^[13] and Namibian side Welwitschias.^[14]

Free State Cheetahs

He moved to Bloemfontein prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and was named on the bench for their third match of the competition against Griquas.^[15]

Notes

1. The SARU website erroneously included Ruan Janse van Rensburg,^[2] a flanker that represented the Griffons at the 2011 Craven Week, instead of Ruan van Rensburg in some squads. Some match reports, etc., might refer to this incorrectly-linked player.

References

1. "SARU Player Profile Ruan van Rensburg". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. "SARU Player Profile Ruan Janse van Rensburg". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border 16-45 MTN Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 44-41 MTN Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Golden Lions 23-22 Valke". South African Rugby Union. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 0-110 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – GWK Griquas 30-6 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
8. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2014 Absa Under 21 Competition". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U21 12-52 Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
10. "2015 GLRU contracting update". Golden Lions. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFH 24-39 FNB WITS". South African Rugby Union. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB WITS 24-29 FNB UKZN". South African Rugby Union. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
13. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards XV 59-12 Down Touch Griffons". South African Rugby Union. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB Welwitschias 25-33 Leopards XV". South African Rugby Union. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
15. "Toyota Free State Cheetahs Team Announcement". Free State Cheetahs. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.