Warren Roger Whiteley (born 18 September 1987) is a South African former 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 for 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 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 ...

and the in the Rugby Challenge. His regular playing position was eighthman. He has previously played for the and the Blitzbokke. Whiteley has been the captain of 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 ...

since 2014, when the team was re-introduced to the competition. The team has reached two finals in 2016 and 2017, which were losses against the Hurricanes and Crusaders respectively, since Whiteley was named captain. In 2016, Whiteley became a regular starter for the Sprinboks following an injury to regular number 8

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a former South African professional rugby union player who previously played for the South Africa national team. He also previously played for Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championsh ...

in the second test against Ireland. Following Vermeulen's injury, Whiteley played the full 80 minutes of every game for the rest of the year, with the exception of the Barbarians fixture on 5 November, which Whiteley did not play in. Whiteley also scored three tries that year, crossing over the line against Argentina, Australia and Ireland, Whiteley was named the new 58th captain of the Springboks in 2017, following

Adriaan Strauss Jan Adriaan Strauss (born 18 November 1985) is a South African former professional rugby union player who played first class rugby between 2005 and 2018. He played in 66 international test matches for (captaining them in 2016) and also featured ...

' retirement from international rugby. Whiteley was ruled out of the final mid-year test against France due to injury, however, being replaced as captain by Stormers lock

Eben Etzebeth Eben Etzebeth (born 29 October 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and the South Africa national rugby team. He made his international debut for the Sprin ...

. Whiteley missed the Super Rugby playoffs due to injury, with

Jaco Kriel Jacobus Albertus Kriel (born 21 August 1989 in Standerton, South Africa) is a rugby union player for . He plays as a flanker. Kriel has also represented the University of Johannesburg in the Varsity Cup. He was the headboy of Hoërskool Stan ...

taking over as captain of the Lions. He went on to miss the entirety of the remaining 2017 season. He returned in the opening match of the 2018 Super Rugby tournament for the Lions against the Sharks. However, he sustained an injury against the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and missed the majority of the Super Rugby season as well as the mid-year internationals, a match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and a three-match series against England. Siya Kolisi took over captaincy in the absence of Whiteley and Etzebeth and kept his captaincy beyond the return of the two players. Whiteley would go on to lead the Lions to the final of the 2018 Super Rugby tournament, a 37–18 loss to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, the third consecutive time that the Lions were runners-up in the tournament. Whiteley started every game for South Africa in the

2018 Rugby Championship The 2018 Rugby Championship was the seventh edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, So ...

, including a 34–36 victory against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

. The Springboks came in second in the championship.

References

External links

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Lions profileultimaterugby.com blitzbokke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteley, Warren 1987 births Living people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for South Africa South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan 21st-century South African sportsmen Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players North-West University alumni NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Durban Sharks (Currie Cup) players South Africa international rugby sevens players South Africa international rugby union players South African people of English descent South African rugby union players Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Alumni of Glenwood High School (Durban) South Africa national rugby union team captains