Adriaan John Carelse (born 8 February 1995) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). His regular position is

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

of fullback. He previously played for

Rugby ATL Rugby FC Los Angeles (RFCLA) is an American professional rugby union team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team began play in 2020 as Rugby ATL, based in Atlanta, Georgia, but announced they would r ...

and the

Dallas Jackals The Dallas Jackals were a Major League Rugby team that began play in the 2022 Major League Rugby season, 2022 season as an expansion franchise. They were originally going to join the MLR for the 2021 Major League Rugby season, 2021 season, but on ...

in the MLR. He previously played for the in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

, the in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

and the in the Rugby Challenge.

Rugby career

2013–2014 : Western Province

Carelse was born in

Somerset West Somerset West () is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called ...

. He attended and played rugby for Hottentots Holland High School, captaining their first team in 2013. He was selected to represent at the Under-18 Academy Week in the same year, kicking four conversions in his three matches. In 2014, he was a member of the squad that participated in the

2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Gr ...

. He appeared in ten of their twelve matches during the regular season, scoring one try against the Golden Lions and a brace in their 43–24 victory over the Leopards as Western Province finished in third place on the log to qualify for the title play-offs. Carelse was an unused replacement in their 29–22 victory over the Free State in the semi-finals, but came on as a replacement in the final, helping his team win the title by beating the s 33–26 in Cape Town.

2015–present : Boland Cavaliers

Carelse moved to fellow

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

side for the 2015 season. He was catapulted into their senior team that participated in the Currie Cup qualification series. He was named on the bench for their opening match of the season, a 32–22 victory over the in

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, but made his first class debut a week later, coming on as a replacement in their 17–48 defeat to in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

. In his second replacement appearance a week later against the , Carelse scored his first try in first class rugby, scoring four minutes from the end in a 15–22 defeat. In his next appearance, a week later against the , he scored his first points with the boot, kicking a penalty in the final minute of the match to secure a 28-all draw for his team. He was promoted to the starting lineup for the first time for their next match against the , scoring a try and a drop goal in a 29–16 victory, and also started their final match, a 17–61 defeat to the in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

. The Boland Cavaliers won just two of their matches during the series to see them finish in fourth position, failing to qualify for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Group Limited, Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for spon ...

, instead progressing to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. After starting two matches for the team in Group B of the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship, he returned to the first team, making two starts and two appearances as a replacement in the Currie Cup First Division. The team had a poor season, losing all five matches, and Carelse failed to score any points for the side. He returned to the Under-21 team for their final match of the regular season, converting seven of his side's fifteen tries in a 101–19 victory over to finish secure top spot on the log. However, despite having home advantage in the semi-finals, they lost 15–19 to an SWD team that finished fourth on the log to be eliminated from the competition. Carelse established himself as the Boland Cavaliers' first choice fly-half for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification competition, appearing in all fourteen of their matches and starting ten of those. He scored a single try during the competition in a 37–25 victory over a and contributed points with the boot in matches against and the . It proved to be a successful campaign under new head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg, with Boland finishing in third position in the competition to qualify for the Premier Division for the first time since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He made his debut at that level in their opening match of the season, a 16–44 defeat to the in Wellington. Carelse signed with

for the 2021

season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carelse, Adriaan South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Somerset West Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Boland Cavaliers players Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Rugby Football Club Los Angeles players Dallas Jackals players Seattle Seawolves players Chicago Hounds (rugby union) players South African expatriate rugby union players in the United States 21st-century South African sportsmen