Jan Adriaan Strauss (born 18 November 1985) is a South African former professional

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 who played first class rugby between 2005 and 2018. He played in 66 international test matches for (captaining them in 2016) and also featured in three non-test internationals. He played

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

for the and the , making 156 appearances, a record by a South African player. He also made 78

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 ...

appearances for the and .

Career

Strauss made his international debut for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 19 July 2008 coming off the bench against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the Tri Nations. He stayed with the team for the remainder of the Tri Nations earning 5 caps, but missed out on the November tour to the UK following the return of

John Smit John William Smit, OIS, (born 3 April 1978) is a former South African rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the South Africa national team, and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World C ...

to action with

Chiliboy Ralepelle Mahlatse Chiliboy Ralepelle (born 11 September 1986 in Tzaneen, South Africa), is a former rugby union player for the in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup. His usual position is at hooker. Career Youth rugby As a pupil at Pretoria Boys High ...

leapfrogging him in the selection order. He scored both of his first two tries for the Springboks in one test on 18 November 2012 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Strauss was selected in South Africa's 31-man for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where he became South Africa's first-choice hooker. Following a standout Super Rugby season for the Bulls, scoring 6 tries that year, Strauss was promoted to captain of the Springboks, becoming the 56th captain in the team's history. Strauss started every test that year as Captain of the team. Following captaining South Africa through a 2-1 series win over Ireland that year, Strauss continued his form in the 2016 Rugby Championship and was awarded Man of the Match in the 18-10 win against Australia, where he played the full 80 minutes- a rare feat for a hooker. Strauss also played the full 80 minutes against Argentina in two tests earlier that year on 20 August and 27 August. Despite Strauss' excellent form, the 2016 Rugby Championship was a disappointment for the Springboks as the team suffered a 57-15 loss to the All Blacks in the final round of the tournament, placing them third overall. Strauss announced that he would retire from International Rugby at the end of 2016, playing his final match for the Springboks on 26 November that year. The match was a 27-13 loss to Wales, with Strauss subbed off with 9 minutes to go.

References

External links

* * 1985 births Living people Afrikaner people South African rugby union players South African people of German descent South African people of Dutch descent South Africa international rugby union players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Rugby union players from Bloemfontein Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein Rugby union hookers {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub