Jan van der Merwe (rugby union)

Jan van der Merwe
Personal information
Born (1995-08-31) 31 August 1995
Pretoria, South Africa
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
School(s) attended Pretoria Boys High School
University University of Pretoria
Club information
Playing position Hooker
Current club Blue Bulls
Youth career
2014–present Blue Bulls
Amateur team(s)
Years Team
2015–present UP Tuks 3 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Pts)†
2015–present Blue Bulls 8 (0)
Representative team(s)‡
2015–present South Africa Under-20 5 (5)

* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 18 July 2016.
† Appearances (Points).

‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 22 June 2015.

Jan van der Merwe (born 31 August 1995 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Blue Bulls.[1] His regular position is hooker.

Career

Despite never earning a provincial call-up at high school level, Van der Merwe joined the Blue Bulls Academy after finishing high school and represented the Blue Bulls U19 side in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting eight matches and making three substitute appearances as they reached the final of the competition, where they were defeated 26–33 by Western Province U19.[2]

He made his first class debut for the Blue Bulls on 6 March 2015, coming on as a late replacement in their 2015 Vodacom Cup match against the Falcons in Kempton Park, helping them to a 37–13 victory.[3]

He also played for UP Tuks in the 2015 Varsity Cup competition, starting their match against UJ[4] and playing off the bench on two occasions.

Despite initially not being named in a 37-man training squad for the South Africa national under-20 rugby union team,[5] he did feature for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015. He came on as a first-half replacement and scored a try just after half-time in a 31–24 victory.[6] He was also included in the squad that embarked on a two-match tour of Argentina.[7] He came on as a replacement in their 25–22 victory over Argentina[8] and started their second tour match a few days later, in which he scored two first-half tries in a 39–28 victory.[9]

Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[10] He started their opening match in Pool B of the competition and got South Africa's first points in the competition by scoring a try in a 33–5 win against hosts Italy.[11] He played off the bench in their remaining two group stage fixtures, a 40–8 win against Samoa[12] and a 46–13 win over Australia[13] to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Van der Merwe came on as a replacement in their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession.[14] He started their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Jan van der Merwe". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U19 33-26 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Hino Valke 13-37 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UJ 0-34 FNB UP - TUKS". South African Rugby Union. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Junior Bok training squad confirmed". South African Rugby Union. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Varsity Cup XV 24-31 South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "SARU names Junior Bok squad for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 25 a 22". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 12 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 39 a 28". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 16 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Liebenberg to lead Junior Boks at U20 World Championship in Italy". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Italy U20 5-33 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40-8 Samoa U20". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 46-13 Australia U20". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 20-28 England U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – France U20 18-31 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
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