Gareth Richard Milasinovich ( ; born 15 December 1992) 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, who plays for Valence Romans Drôme Rugby. He can play as a loosehead or tighthead prop.

Rugby career

Youth and Varsity Cup rugby

Milasinovich was born 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 ...

, where he attended St John's College. He was chosen for the Lions Welpies side in 2010 at schoolboy level, and made two appearances for the Kempton Park-based ' Under-19 team during the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring a try in their 29–21 victory over . It wasn't until 2015 that he next featured in a nationwide competition, when he played for the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg, colloquially known as UJ, is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant fundi ...

in the

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each unive ...

competition. He started all seven of their matches in the loosehead prop position, with UJ winning three of those matches, failing to qualify for the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

Worcester Warriors

After the 2015 Varsity Cup, Milasinovich moved to England to join the academy of English Premiership side

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 ...

. He had a short spell at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 whe ...

, making two appearances for the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

-based side at the start of the 2015–16 season. He made his debut for Worcester Warriors in their

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

, coming on as a replacement in their opening match in Pool 4 of the competition against French side . He started their next match against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

, eventually playing in five of their six matches as Worcester Warriors finished bottom of the Pool 4 log to be eliminated from the competition. He made his Premiership debut on 5 December 2015, playing off the bench in a 20–29 defeat to

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. He made three further substitute appearances over the course of the season as the Worcester Warriors finished in tenth position. In his final match against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

, Milasinovich suffered an

achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture of the ...

, ruling him out of injury for several months. Despite this injury, Milasinovich was promoted to the senior squad prior to the 2016–17 season.

Ulster

Milasinovich joined Irish

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 ...

side

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season. In July 2019 he sustained an injury to his ACL, ruling him out for several months. He has since fully recovered. He is Irish-qualified through his grandfather, Norman McFarland, who was from Ulster and represented the province as a hooker. He joined

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

on a two-month loan at the end of 2021."Ulster prop Milasinovich joins Saracens on loan"
RTÉ, 31 December 2021 He was released by Ulster at the end of the 2022–23 season, and joined Valence Romans Drôme Rugby in the French

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milasinovich, Gareth South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union players from Johannesburg Rugby union props Worcester Warriors players Leeds Tykes players Ulster Rugby players Saracens F.C. players South African expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland South African expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland University of Johannesburg alumni 21st-century South African sportsmen