Gareth Richard Milasinovich ( ; born 15 December 1992) 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, who plays for Valence Romans Drôme Rugby. He can play as a loosehead or tighthead prop.

Rugby career

Youth and Varsity Cup rugby

Milasinovich was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, where he attended St John's College. He was chosen for the Lions Welpies side in 2010 at schoolboy level, and made two appearances for the Kempton Park-based ' Under-19 team during the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring a try in their 29–21 victory over . It wasn't until 2015 that he next featured in a nationwide competition, when he played for the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Te ...

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 ...

competition. He started all seven of their matches in the loosehead prop position, with UJ winning three of those matches, failing to qualify for the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Worcester Warriors

After the 2015 Varsity Cup, Milasinovich moved to England to join the academy of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Premiership side

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

. He had a short spell at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

, making two appearances for the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

-based side at the start of the 2015–16 season. He made his debut for Worcester Warriors in their

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

, coming on as a replacement in their opening match in

Pool 4 Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky poo ...

of the competition against French side . He started their next match against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

, eventually playing in five of their six matches as Worcester Warriors finished bottom of the Pool 4 log to be eliminated from the competition. He made his Premiership debut on 5 December 2015, playing off the bench in a 20–29 defeat to

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 ...

. He made three further substitute appearances over the course of the season as the Worcester Warriors finished in tenth position. In his final match against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

, Milasinovich suffered an

achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture typica ...

, ruling him out of injury for several months. Despite this injury, Milasinovich was promoted to the senior squad prior to the 2016–17 season.

Ulster

Milasinovich joined Irish

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 ...

side

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season. In July 2019 he sustained an injury to his ACL, ruling him out for several months. He has since fully recovered. He is Irish-qualified through his grandfather, Norman McFarland, who was from Ulster and represented the province as a hooker. He joined

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

on a two-month loan at the end of 2021."Ulster prop Milasinovich joins Saracens on loan"
RTÉ, 31 December 2021 He was released by Ulster at the end of the 2022–23 season, and joined Valence Romans Drôme Rugby in the French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milasinovich, Gareth South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union players from Johannesburg Rugby union props Worcester Warriors players Leeds Tykes players Ulster Rugby players Saracens F.C. players South African expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland South African expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland University of Johannesburg alumni