Errie Claassens (born 27 October 1981) is a former

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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. Errie is the brother of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

player Michael Claassens who plays at

scrum half Scrum may refer to: * Autozam Scrum, a microvan and pickup truck sold in Japan by Mazda * Line of scrimmage, line separating football teams before a play * Media scrum, an impromptu press conference, often held immediately outside an event such a ...

and has represented the

Free State Cheetahs The Free State Cheetahs (), formerly known as Orange Free State (), currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs due to sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are ...

and the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

. Claassens moved to the UK in 2005 to sign for the

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a rugby union club from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the third tier of the English rugby union league system, following their promotion from the National League ...

where he spent four seasons, developing from a bit part player into a proven try scorer. In 2009 he moved to

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

where he was to further his reputation with a strong try scoring record and a number of sparkling individual performances. He has a reputation as a skilful and pacey broken play runner who can play at both full back and winger. Errie formerly played as a fullback or winger for

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

. Claassens was named as part of the ''Rugby Times ''magazine 2009/2010

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

"Dream Team" thanks to his consistently strong play and try scoring reputation. In 2013, Errie Claassens signed a contract to join

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in the

. However, on 21 May 2014, he left Bristol by mutual consent as he officially joined London Scottish on a two-year contract. On 27 January 2015, Claassens announced his retirement from professional rugby due to ongoing injuries.

References

External links

London Welsh Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claassens, Errie 1982 births Living people London Welsh RFC players Rotherham Titans players South African rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players in England Worcester Warriors players Rugby union players from the Free State (province) Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks 21st-century South African sportsmen