Eben Joubert, born June 30, 1983, in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa, is a former 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. He played for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

in the ITM Cup competition in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and was named captain of the team in 2011.

Playing career

After completing his studies at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

, Joubert briefly featured for the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...

provincial squad, making one appearance each 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

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 ...

in 2007. Despite facing challenges due to his relatively small stature for a flanker in South Africa, he seized an opportunity to advance his professional career in New Zealand in 2008. Joubert's impressive performances in club rugby in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

earned him a spot on the Otago team for the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup. He became a regular player in 2008 and 2009, but his career was derailed when he suffered a severe shoulder injury in a

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

match against Southland during the 2010 ITM Cup season. The injury was further complicated by a post-surgery infection, which led to a lengthy hospitalization of nearly two months, ruling him out for the entire season. Back healthy for the

2011 ITM Cup The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago (National Provincial Championship), Otago hosted North Harbour ...

, Joubert was named the captain of the Otago squad. He helped get his side off to a terrific start, scoring his first two provincial tries in an opening-week victory over North Harbour, and then led Otago to their first victory in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

since 1976. However, his season was ended after 4 matches by a damaged knee. Eben now lives in the Netherlands with his family where he is a director for Hilti and is married to Melanie Joubert, co-founder of beauty brand Sweet Rumour.

References

External links

Otago Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joubert, Eben 1983 births Living people South African rugby union players Otago rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Johannesburg University of Pretoria alumni South African expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand 21st-century South African sportsmen Blue Bulls players