Christiaan Roets (born 5 September 1980) is a former semi-professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who represented the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

, most notably at the

2011 Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

, 2013 World Cup, and 2017 World Cup. He primarily played as a for the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

and the

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders ( cy, Croesgadwyr Gogledd Cymru Rygbi'r Gynghrair) is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in B ...

Background

Roets was born in

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 ...

Playing career

Roets played for the Swansea Valley Miners and the

Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wale ...

in the Wales amateur competition. In 2009, he played two matches for the

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

in the Super League reserve grade. After two seasons with the

, Roets joined the

in 2012. He returned to the Scorpions early in the 2016 season.

Representative career

Roets made his international début for Wales against at the

2009 European Cup The 2009 European Cup, known as the rugbyleague.com European Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league football tournament. The revamped European Cup 2009 involved six teams competing in two groups of three. Participating teams were: Ireland, Sco ...

, scoring three tries in a man of the match performance. He also featured in the European Cup Championship Final against scoring one try. Roets scored a try for Wales in their game against England in the 2012 Tri-Nations. Roets played for

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

in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

. Roets was the top scorer for the Welsh, scoring four tries in the tournament. In October 2014, Roets played in the

2014 European Cup The 2014 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place in England, Wales, France, Ireland and Scotland between 17 October and 2 November. It was announced beforehand that the winner of the tournamen ...

. He scored a try in the opening game against Scotland. In October 2015, Roets played in the

2015 European Cup The 2015 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place between 16 October and 7 November in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland. Scotland were the defending champions. Four teams competed in the 20 ...

tournament. In October 2016, Roets played in the 2017 World Cup qualifiers. Roets also represented Wales Students (scoring five tries in twelve matches) and Wales Amateurs (scoring four tries in nine matches) during his career.

Post-playing career

On 3 March 2022, Roets was announced as team manager of the Wales men's national team ahead of the 2021 World Cup.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rlwc2017.com
1980 births Living people Bridgend Blue Bulls players South Wales Scorpions players North Wales Crusaders players Rugby league centres Rugby league second-rows South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African rugby league players Wales national rugby league team players {{SouthAfrica-rugbyleague-bio-stub