Joe van Niekerk

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Joe van Niekerk
Full name Johann van Niekerk
Date of birth (1980-05-14) 14 May 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 108 kg
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Flanker/No.8
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2008– Toulon
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2004–07 Western Province
Super Rugby
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2002–03
2004–07
Lions
Stormers
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2001–10  South Africa 52 (50)

Johann "Joe" van Niekerk (born 14 May 1980 in Port Elizabeth) is a South African rugby union player, who generally plays either as a flanker or number 8. He currently plays for Toulon in the Top 14.

Career overview

After starring for the South Africa Schools, under-19, and under-21 sides, and captaining at all three levels, Van Niekerk received the rare honour of being called up to the Springboks directly from the U21 side in 2001, in spite of never having played a game in either the Currie Cup or Super 12.[1] He made his debut against the All Blacks in Cape Town.

Van Niekerk has experienced injury troubles throughout his senior-level career. When healthy, however, he is considered able to compete with virtually any back-row player in the world. He scored important tries for the Boks in home wins over the Wallabies in the 2002 Tri Nations Series and the 2004 Tri Nations Series. He has often been used as an "impact player" off the bench, especially in the 2005 Tri Nations Series.

In 2002, he was voted the South African "Player of the Year". In the first match of the 2008 Tri Nations Series against the All Blacks in Wellington, he was a surprise choice to start at No. 8. He was expected to play for the Northampton Saints however his contract was terminated before he arrived, reportedly because of constant injury problems. At the moment he plays for RC Toulon, a club in France. In May 2013 he played as a replacement as Toulon won the 2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne.[2]

Teams

Honours

Toulon

References

Endnotes

  1. "Showdown at ... Quiz Creek" 2008, p. 32.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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