Dillyn Yullrich Leyds (born 12 September 1992 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 ...

, South Africa) 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 South Africa national team and

Stade Rochelais Stade Rochelais (), commonly called La Rochelle, is a French rugby union club who compete in the Top 14. They were founded in 1898 and play at Stade Marcel-Deflandre (capacity 16,000). They wear yellow and black. They are based in La Rochelle ...

in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He can play as a fullback, fly-half or wing.

Career

Youth and Varsity rugby

Leyds was educated at Western Province Preparatory School and went on to Bishops College in

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 largest ...

, where he played for their First XV rugby side in 2009 and 2010, alongside players such as

Nizaam Carr Nizaam Carr (born 4 April 1991) is a South African rugby union footballer who plays either as a flanker, loose forward or number 8 and back rower. He is renowned for his athleticism and linking play. Personal life Carr grew up in Mitchell's ...

, Oli Kebble,

Johnny Kôtze John-Ben Kôtze (born 24 January 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player for the in Super Rugby and the in the Currie Cup. His regular position is centre, but he is also comfortable at wing. Career School Kôtze attended B ...

, Sam Lane and

Tim Swiel Timothy Gregory Swiel (born 4 June 1993) is an English-born South African rugby union player for . His regular position is fly-half. Career Youth Swiel attended Bishops in Cape Town and played in their first side in 2010 and 2011 alongside Di ...

. He represented Western Province at various age-group levels. In 2010, he was included in both their Under-18 Academy Week and

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The tou ...

sides. The following year, the played for the side in the

2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2011 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 15 July to 29 October 2011. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There were seven partici ...

, where he scored 133 points in 13 starts to finish second in the points-scoring charts and help his side reach the quarter-finals of the competition. He was a regular in the squad during the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Provincial Championships, helping them reach a final in the former and winning the competition in 2013. In

and

, he also played

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

rugby for the . He was jointly the third-highest try scorer in 2012, averaging one try per match in his seven appearances.

2012 IRB Junior World Championship

In 2012, Leyds was a member of the South African Under-20 side that won the

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...

on home soil. Leyds started their Pool Stage matches against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, their semi-final match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and the final against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, helping his side to a 22–16 victory over the defending champions to win the title for the first time ever.

Western Province

Leyds was included in the squad for the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

competition. His first class debut came against the

Argentinean Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish language, Spanish (Grammatical gender, masculine) or (Grammatical gender, feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be resident ...

invitational side the in

. He came on as a second-half substitute and scored a conversion with his first touch of the ball, plus added a penalty later to help Western Province to a 28–17 victory. He also appeared in their semi-final match against the , but couldn't prevent them being knocked out of the competition following a 44–25 loss.

Western Force and Perth Spirit

Leyds moved to Australia to join

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

-based

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 ...

franchise the for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

, where he was named in their Wider Training Group. He was included in a matchday squad for the first time for their Round 16 match against the in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. He made three substitute appearances for the Force during the season, appearing in their matches against the Crusaders, and . He was also named in the side that played in the

2014 National Rugby Championship The 2014 National Rugby Championship (known as the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship, involving nine professional rugby union teams from around Au ...

. He made five appearances in the competition and scored a try in their match against the .Alt URL
/ref>

Return to Western Province

In March 2014, announced that Leyds would return to the

-based side for the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

season. Due to ongoing commitments with the and , he only started training with Western Province towards the end of September 2014.

Stormers

He made his Super Rugby debut for the on the wing against the scoring a try and helping the Stormers to shock the Bulls 17–29 in

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

on the opening weekend of

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

on 14 February 2015.

Stade Rochelais

Leyds signed for French

outfit,

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, ahead of the 2020–21 season.

Honours

Club

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

: 2021–2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyds, Dillyn South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births People from Somerset West Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union fly-halves Western Force players Western Province (rugby union) players Stade Rochelais players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Perth Spirit players South Africa international rugby union players Stormers players Rugby union players from the Western Cape