Adriaan John Carelse (born 8 February 1995) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for the

Dallas Jackals The Dallas Jackals are a Major League Rugby team that began play in the 2022 season as an expansion franchise. They were originally going to join the MLR for the 2021 season, but on January 19, 2021, the Jackals delayed their inaugural season to ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR). His regular position is

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

of fullback. He previously played for

Rugby ATL Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

in the MLR. He previously played for the 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. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, the 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 ...

and the in the Rugby Challenge.

Rugby career

2013–2014 : Western Province

Carelse was born in

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

. He attended and played rugby for

Hottentots Holland High School Hottentots-Holland High School is an Afrikaans- and English-speaking school in the Western Cape in South Africa, situated between the towns of Somerset West and Strand. The parallel-medium, co-educational school, situated to the northeast of the ...

, captaining their first team in 2013. He was selected to represent at the Under-18 Academy Week in the same year, kicking four conversions in his three matches. In 2014, he was a member of the squad that participated in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He appeared in ten of their twelve matches during the regular season, scoring one try against the Golden Lions and a brace in their 43–24 victory over the Leopards as Western Province finished in third place on the log to qualify for the title play-offs. Carelse was an unused replacement in their 29–22 victory over the Free State in the semi-finals, but came on as a replacement in the final, helping his team win the title by beating the s 33–26 in Cape Town.

2015–present : Boland Cavaliers

Carelse moved to fellow

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

side for the 2015 season. He was catapulted into their senior team that participated in the

Currie Cup qualification Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx 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 Edi ...

series. He was named on the bench for their opening match of the season, a 32–22 victory over the in

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the up ...

, but made his first class debut a week later, coming on as a replacement in their 17–48 defeat to in Kimberley. In his second replacement appearance a week later against the , Carelse scored his first try in first class rugby, scoring four minutes from the end in a 15–22 defeat. In his next appearance, a week later against the , he scored his first points with the boot, kicking a penalty in the final minute of the match to secure a 28-all draw for his team. He was promoted to the starting lineup for the first time for their next match against the , scoring a try and a drop goal in a 29–16 victory, and also started their final match, a 17–61 defeat to the in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

. The Boland Cavaliers won just two of their matches during the series to see them finish in fourth position, failing to qualify for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division, instead progressing to the First Division. After starting two matches for the team in Group B of the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship, he returned to the first team, making two starts and two appearances as a replacement in the Currie Cup First Division. The team had a poor season, losing all five matches, and Carelse failed to score any points for the side. He returned to the Under-21 team for their final match of the regular season, converting seven of his side's fifteen tries in a 101–19 victory over to finish secure top spot on the log. However, despite having home advantage in the semi-finals, they lost 15–19 to an SWD team that finished fourth on the log to be eliminated from the competition. Carelse established himself as the Boland Cavaliers' first choice fly-half for the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

competition, appearing in all fourteen of their matches and starting ten of those. He scored a single try during the competition in a 37–25 victory over a and contributed points with the boot in matches against and the . It proved to be a successful campaign under new head coach

Brent Janse van Rensburg Brent Janse van Rensburg (born ) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the defence coach for Bath Rugby in the English Premiership. Career He started his career at the South African Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch, also coaching at ...

, with Boland finishing in third position in the competition to qualify for the Premier Division for the first time since

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. He made his debut at that level in their opening match of the season, a 16–44 defeat to the in Wellington. Carelse signed with

for the 2021

season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carelse, Adriaan South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births People from Somerset West Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Boland Cavaliers players Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Rugby ATL players Dallas Jackals players Rugby union players from the Western Cape Seattle Seawolves players