Donovan Wade Armand (born 23 September 1988) is a former Zimbabwean-born England international

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 ...

footballer. Originally from Zimbabwe, he played as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership.

Professional career

Zimbabwe

Armand grew up in Zimbabwe and attended Highlands Junior School in Harare.

South Africa

After the Zimbabwean land-reform, Armand moved to South Africa and attended Maritzburg College. He made his debut with the South African team Western Province on 10 March 2012 in a 51–22 victory over the Boland Cavaliers. He finished the 2012 Vodacom Cup season with six appearances and one try. Due to injuries sustained by loose-forwards

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Champion ...

and

Nick Köster Ralph Nicholas Köster (22 February 1989 – 12 July 2023) was a South African rugby union player. He last played professionally for Bristol in the position of Flanker or Eight Man. He was latterly captain of Cambridge University R.U.F.C. Kö ...

on the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

' 2012 Australasian tour, Armand received a call-up to the squad for the final tour game against the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

. The match ended in a 17–3 Stormers victory. He made his Super Rugby debut as a 75th-minute replacement for

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 ...

. Armand was a fixture in the 2012 Western Province Currie Cup side and started the winning final against the in Durban. He has also represented the

Ikey Tigers The Ikey Tigers are a South African rugby union team from the University of Cape Town in the Western Cape who compete in the FNB Varsity Cup. History The "Ikey" nickname originated in the 1910s as an anti-semitic epithet applied to UCT studen ...

in the

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 ...

Exeter Chiefs

On 17 July 2013, it was confirmed that Armand would be joining English

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side Exeter Chiefs on a two-year contract. Armand has been a key player in Exeter Chiefs successful 2017 Aviva season becoming Champions of England on 27 May 2017. He was named man of the match in the final, where the Chiefs recorded their first ever league win with a 23-20 extra-time victory over Wasps. Armand made his Exeter Chiefs debut against the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in the

in September 2013. He appeared 11 times in the 2013–14 season, mostly as a substitute. In 2014–15, Armand appeared 12 times, starting in 10 of those appearances. Armand had a breakout season in 2015–16, appearing 21 times in the

, starting each match and playing a total of 1,611 minutes. Armand also appeared in the Chiefs' European Champions Cup campaign and started the 2016 Aviva Premiership final. Armand was nominated for the Aviva Premiership player of the year award, which was won by

Alex Goode Alexander David Goode (born 7 May 1988) is an English professional rugby union player playing for Saracens in Premiership Rugby. Biography All-rounder Goode appeared at the national schools athletics finals, played county tennis and was part ...

. Armand won the Exeter Chiefs Supporters' player of the year award for 2016 and also earned an

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

call up for their summer tour of

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 ...

. He started the final and was voted man of the match as Exeter Chiefs defeated

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016-17 English Premiership. He announced his retirement following the 2021–22 season.

International career

In 2016, Armand was selected for the

' tour of South Africa. In 2017 Armand was named as a late addition to England's tour of Argentina following James Haskell's Lions call up. Armand won his first international cap for England on 10 June 2017 in their 34-38 victory over

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 ...

, coming on as a substitute in the second half. Armand's second cap and

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

debut came as a late sub in England's defeat to Ireland in the 2018 tournament.

References

External links

*
itsrugby.co.uk Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armand, Don Living people 1988 births White Zimbabwean people Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa South African rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union flankers Sportspeople from Harare Alumni of Maritzburg College England international rugby union players Exeter Chiefs players