is a professional

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 as a flanker for

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, b ...

club Kubota Spears. Born in South Africa, he represents

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 ...

at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Club career

Labuschagné represented 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 ...

and previously played with the 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 ...

. He has also previously captained the 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 ...

. Labuschagné moved to the

ese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

prior to the 2016–17 season, signing with the Kubota Spears.

International career

Labuschagné was called up to the squad for the

2013 mid-year rugby union tests Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number) * Any of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, or 2013 Music Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ''13'' (Blur album), 1999 * ''13'' (Borgeous album), 2016 * ''13'' (Brian Setzer album), 2006 * ...

against , and , but he did not feature in any of the matches for Springboks. In 2019, he debuted for

. He represented Japan at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

and captained them in their Pool A victory over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

References

External links

* Living people 1989 births South African rugby union players Rugby union flankers Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Afrikaner people Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein University of the Free State alumni Rugby union players from Pretoria Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan 21st-century South African sportsmen Japan international rugby union players Sunwolves players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Japanese rugby union players Naturalized citizens of Japan Naturalised rugby union players {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub