Sarel Petrus Marais (born 16 March 1989) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player for the in Super Rugby and in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

. His position he plays is Fullback.

Career

Youth and Varsity rugby

Marais played for the in youth competitions and was part of the

2009 Vodacom Cup The 2009 Vodacom Cup was the 12th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between province, provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions. Competition There were 1 ...

squad, without making a senior appearance. He then moved to Potchefstroom in 2010, where he played four matches for the in the

2010 Varsity Cup The 2010 Varsity Cup was contested from 1 February to 29 March 2010. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-unive ...

competition. Marais also played for the team during the 2010 Under-21 competition.

Leopards

Although Marais didn't play any games for the during the 2010 Currie Cup season, he made his first class debut in the Leopards' first

relegation play-off In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

match against the , scoring his first try within a minute of his debut when he came on as a first-half blood replacement and a second try right before the end of the match. He maintained his try-scoring exploits in the following match, scoring another try in the return leg to help keep the in the

2011 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top t ...

Kings

It was then announced that he moved to the for the 2011 Currie Cup First Division season. He remained with them for three seasons, making 36 appearances for them in the

and Vodacom Cup competitions in 2011 and 2012. He reached the top ten in the scoring charts for the 2011 Currie Cup First Division, scoring ten tries and two conversions during the season. He firmly established himself as the first choice full-back, starting fifteen of their sixteen matches in the 2012 Currie Cup First Division season and also started their match in the First Division final, which the Kings won 26–25 to win their second First Division title in three seasons. In 2013, Marais was also named in the squad for the 2013 Super Rugby season. He made his Super Rugby debut for the Kings in their first ever Super Rugby match, a 22–10 victory over Australian side the in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

. After starting the first three matches of the season, he missed the next seven due to a knee injury. He returned to make a further five appearances, as well as playing in both legs of the Kings' Super Rugby promotion/relegation play-offs against the , which saw the Kings lose their Super Rugby status.

Sharks

Marais joined the exodus of players leaving the Kings after their defeat to the , joining

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

-based side the for the

2013 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 75th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 10 August to 26 October 2013. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was th ...

season. He made his debut in their second match of the season against the and immediately established himself as their first-choice full-back, starting all the remaining games of the season, scoring four tries. He was also in the starting fifteen for the Currie Cup final, which the Sharks won 33–19 against . Marais was included in the squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season and made his Sharks Super Rugby debut in a 31–16 victory against the in

Return to Kings

At the end of 2015, Marais was one of a number of players that joined the Southern Kings prior to their return to Super Rugby for the 2016 season. However, the – the provincial union that was supposed to administer the Super Rugby team – suffered serious financial problems and the South African Rugby Union stepped in to assist the Super Rugby franchise; however, Marais was not one of the players contracted by SARU to represent the Southern Kings. After being unpaid for several months, he was one of eighteen players involved in submitting an application to get Eastern Province Rugby liquidated in an attempt to recoup unpaid salary payments.

Bulls

Shortly after the 2016 Super Rugby season kicked off, Marais joined the

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

-based on a two-month trial basis. He made his Bulls debut by replacing Burger Odendaal during their 23–18 win against the in Round Six. He was named in their starting line-up for their next match, against Marais' former side the in

Stormers / Western Province

At the start of 2017, Marais moved to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, where he joined the Super Rugby team and the

team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marais, SP South African rugby union players Eastern Province Elephants players Southern Kings players Stormers players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union fullbacks Alumni of Paarl Boys' High School Living people 1989 births Sharks (Currie Cup) players Bulls (rugby union) players Western Province (rugby union) players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Cape Town