Josh Strauss (born 23 October 1986) is a South African-born

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

international

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 currently plays for Israeli side

Tel Aviv Heat The Tel Aviv Heat () is the first professional Israeli rugby union team. Based in Tel Aviv, the team competed annually in the Rugby Europe Super Cup until 2023. The team is also called the Israeli Springboks, on account of the number of South Afri ...

. He previously played for

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 ...

and the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

. His regular playing position is

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

or number 8.

Career

Strauss played for the

Boland Cavaliers The Boland Cavaliers () are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual SA Cup and Currie Cup tournament. They draw players from the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Cape Winelands and West Coast District Municipality, ...

and

Maties Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

. He has captained the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

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 ...

and the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (), currently known as the Fidelity ADT Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons, are a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup. The team is governed by the Golden ...

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 ...

. On 11 September 2012 Strauss signed for

on a three-year deal. He quickly became a regular in the Warriors' side, captaining them frequently, and was an integral part of their 2014–2015 Pro12 title triumph. He was named in the Pro12 Dream Team at the end of the 2014/15 season. Strauss - like all professional players in Scotland - was assigned to play for amateur clubs each season when not in use with

. After signing for Glasgow in 2012 he was assigned to

Dundee HSFP Dundee HSFP is a former rugby union team that played their home games at the Mayfield Playing Fields, Dundee, Scotland. The club disbanded in 2021. The team was founded in 1880 by former pupils of the High School of Dundee. The men's side pla ...

in the Pro-Player draft. He was assigned to Aberdeen GSFP in the

pro-player draft of 2013-14. In 2014-15 he was assigned to Stirling County. In 2016-17 season he was assigned to

Currie Currie is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated be ...

. Strauss left

in the summer of 2017. On 28 February 2017, Strauss signed a three-year contract with

Aviva Premiership 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 u ...

club

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

prior to the 2017-18 season. He then moved to

Stade Francais Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

before signing for the

. He signed for

in 2021.

International career

Strauss became eligible to play for

in September 2015, and was named in the 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

. He made his much-anticipated debut from the bench in the team's opening match victory over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

References

External links

*
Lions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Josh 1986 births Living people Aberdeen GSFP RFC players Afrikaner people Alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium Boland Cavaliers players Bulls (rugby union) players Currie RFC players Dundee HSFP players Scottish expatriate rugby union players in France South African expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Glasgow Warriors players Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Oyonnax Rugby players Rugby union players from Bellville, South Africa Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Sale Sharks players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in France South African rugby union players Stade Français Paris players Stellenbosch University alumni Stirling County RFC players Tel Aviv Heat players South African expatriate sportspeople in Israel Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Expatriate rugby union players in Israel 2015 Rugby World Cup players