Jacob Johannes Taute (born 21 March 1991) is a South African retired

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 as a fullback or

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, he won three caps for . Taute played for the and the in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

, the and 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 ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

in the

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 ...

and

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 ...

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

Career

South Africa

He was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that competed in the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby' ...

s. During the

2012 Rugby Championship The 2012 Rugby Championship was the inaugural annual rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as ''The Castle Rugby Champ ...

, Taute made his international debut for 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 ...

against the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

Loftus Versfeld Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a Rugby union, rugby stadium situated in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria, Arcadia, city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, owned by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union. The stadium can accommodate 51,762 spe ...

. He was a late inclusion into the squad and played at

after

François Steyn François Philippus Lodewyk Steyn (born 14 May 1987) is a South African former professional rugby union player. A Utility player#Rugby union, utility back who represented his South Africa national rugby union team, country, he was able to play a ...

was ruled out with injury.

Munster

In September 2016, he joined Irish

side

on a four-month contract as a replacement for the injured

Francis Saili Francis Saili (born 16 February 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player, currently playing for French club Racing 92. He plays primarily as a centre, though he can also play wing. He is the younger brother of Blues loose forward Peter Saili. ...

. On 1 October 2016, Taute made his competitive debut for Munster in the

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was t ...

fixture against

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 ...

. On 22 October 2016, Taute scored a try in Munster's 38–17 win against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

in Round 2 of the

2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken ...

, a match that was his European debut for the province. On 10 December 2016, Taute scored two tries in Munster's 38–0 win against

. On 2 January 2017, it was confirmed that Taute's contract with Munster had been extended until June 2017. On 4 March 2017, Taute won the Man-of-the-Match award in Munster's 23–13 away win against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. On 5 May 2017, Taute was named in the

Dream Team. On 19 May 2017, it was announced that Taute had signed a two-year contract with Munster which will see him remain with the province until June 2019. Taute suffered a knee ligament injury in Munster's

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as t ...

fixture against

on 30 September 2017, ruling him out for six months. He made his return from the injury in Munster's

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the '' ...

fixture against

on 7 September 2018, coming on as a replacement for

Rory Scannell Rory Scannell (born 22 December 1993) is an Irish rugby union player who last played as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Munster. Munster Scannell made his senior Munster debut on 1 November 2014, starting at inside centre against ...

in the 63rd minute of the match. Taute captained Munster for the first time in their fixture against

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 ...

on 21 December 2018.

Leicester Tigers

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Taute joined

side

. He made his Leicester debut in a

European 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 ...

match as a substitute against Pau on 16 November 2019, with his first start coming two weeks later against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in a

match. He extended his contract on 8 July 2020, and captained the club twice in the 2020-21 season. Taute injured his knee in February 2021 and missed over a year of matches, in his comeback match he lasted only 9 minutes before re-injuring his knee. On 1 July 2022 Taute announced his retirement from professional rugby.

Reference List

External links

*
Lions profile
* *
Munster ProfilePro14 Profile
*
Leicester Tigers Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taute, Jaco Living people 1991 births Alumni of Hoërskool Monument South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Stormers players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union centres Afrikaner people Rugby union players from Springs, South Africa South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Munster Rugby players Munster Rugby captains Leicester Tigers players South African expatriate rugby union players in England 21st-century South African sportsmen