Eben Joubert (born 30 June 1983 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

) was a South African

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 playing in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

for

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

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tek ...

competition. He was named Otago captain in 2011.

Playing career

After attending the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

, Joubert spent some time on the fringes of 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. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versf ...

provincial squad, making a single appearance during both the

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 ...

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. Considered undersized for a flanker in his native South Africa, in 2008 he accepted an offer to come to New Zealand in an attempt to further his chances at a professional career. After making a strong impression in club rugby in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, he was selected to the

side for the

2008 Air New Zealand Cup The 2008 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 31 July 2008, and continued until the final on 25 October 2008. This season was the third of the expanded co ...

. After making regular appearances in 2008 and 2009, his career suffered a serious setback 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 challeng ...

game against Southland early in the 2010 ITM Cup campaign, when he suffered a serious shoulder injury which ruled him out for the season. The injury was further complicated by an infection after surgery which left him hospitalized for nearly two months. Back healthy for the 2011 ITM Cup, 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 (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

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