Hendrik Grobbelaar (born 8 February 1992) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player, who most recently played with the . His regular position is flanker or number eight.

Rugby career

2006: Limpopo

Grobbelaar was born in Benoni, but grew up in

Mookgophong Mookgophong, also known as Naboomspruit, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is located approximately 42 km north-east of Modimolle and 51 km south-west of Mokopane. History It was founded on the farm Vischga ...

(known as Naboomspruit until 2006) in the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

province. He was selected to represent Limpopo at the 2008 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in Ermelo, where he started two of their three matches.

2012–2016: Griffons

In 2012, he was included in the

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The cit ...

-based ' Under-21 squad for their Under-21 Provincial Championship campaign. He started all six of their matches in the number eight jersey, scoring a try against in a 40–43 defeat, but could not help his side to a victory, as they lost all six matches to finish bottom of the log. Grobbelaar made his first class debut in March 2013, coming on as a replacement in the '

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

match against the in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provinc ...

. He made his first start a week later against , but failed to feature for the Griffons for the remainder of 2013. He made a single appearance in the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the C ...

– as a replacement in a 10–49 defeat to the – before making his

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

debut, playing off the bench in the Griffons First Division match against the , helping his team to a 37–32 victory. Grobbelaar got marginally more playing time in 2015, making three appearances off the bench in the Griffons'

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

season before starting against the during the

Currie Cup First Division Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Ed ...

regular season and against the same opposition in their 40–47 semi-final loss a week later. Grobbelaar made two starts and four appearances off the bench in the Griffons'

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the ...

campaign, and scored his first senior try in their 101–0 victory over

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

n side the in his third appearance of the season. The Griffons finished ninth, to qualify to the

2016: Eastern Province Kings

Grobbelaar signed a contract to play for the

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

-based in the

2016 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division was the top tier of the second stage of the 2016 Currie Cup, the 78th edition of this annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 5 August and ...

. He made his EP Kings – and Currie Cup Premier Division – debut in their Round Two match against the . His only other appearance came as he started their rescheduled midweek match against in a 24–47 defeat. and his side eventually lost all eight of their matches in the competition to finish bottom of the log.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grobbelaar, Dirk South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Eastern Province Elephants players Griffons (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Benoni