Hanno Dirksen 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 currently playing for NOLA Gold of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR). He was a regular member of the Ospreys squad during the 2011–12

Pro12 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 ...

winning season, and earned the award of try of the season for his score against Edinburgh in February 2012.

Early life

Dirksen grew up in the United States in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, where he attended Lassiter High School (Marietta, GA), and played for the USA U17 and U18 national rugby union teams. Dirksen went to the UK on a student visa in 2008 to study at

Truro College Truro and Penwith College is a Tertiary College and Further Education College in Cornwall, United Kingdom. History Truro College was founded in 1993 as a new college in Gloweth near Threemilestone, Truro, Cornwall, to replace the Truro Sixt ...

, before transferring to

Neath Port Talbot College Neath Port Talbot College (NPTC) was a further education institution established as two campuses in Port Talbot and Neath in Wales, United Kingdom. The college allowed study of many courses including GCSEs, AS Level/A levels, AGCEs, AVCEs, Adult ...

in 2009. During his time at

he played regularly for St Ives RFC and became a scoring machine, with St Ives lifting the County cup. Due to his student visa, he played as an amateur at Swansea RFC and Ospreys until he signed a professional contract with the Ospreys in January 2011.

Professional career

Ospreys

Dirksen made his debut for Ospreys in November 2009 against

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

and scored his first try for the region in February 2010 against

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

in his only other appearance in the 2009–10 season. Dirksen featured for Ospreys 5 times during the 2010–11 season, scoring once. During the 2011–12 season Dirksen scored 8 tries for Ospreys in 24 matches. Dirksen's Ospreys career was punctuated by injuries, and faced competition with other Welsh wing contenders. Dirksen officially departed the club in 2021, after more than ten seasons, winning the league in 2012.

Major League Rugby

Dirksen signed to play with NOLA Gold in March 2021 for the

2021 Major League Rugby season The 2021 Major League Rugby season was the fourth season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on March 20, 2021. One team made their debut in 2021: the LA Giltinis. Th ...

. He played for NOLA Gold on 12 occasions, scoring two tries.

Return to Wales

After one season in the United States, Dirksen returned to Wales ahead of the 2021–22 Indigo Group Premiership, once more playing for

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

International career

Although, Dirksen represented the United States under-18 side, he never was capped by the national side and is no longer eligible under World Rugby regulations. During his time with Ospreys he became eligible to play 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 ...

and in 2014 expressed interest in playing for the nation. Dirksen never attained a Welsh cap, with injuries unfortunately sidelining him throughout his career.

Family

Dirksen has two rugby internationals in his family. His brother Cornelius made his debut for the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the

2012 International Rugby Series The 2012 IRB International Rugby Series was the first edition of a rugby union tournament, created by the International Rugby Board for tier two and tier three nations, played at Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay in Wales. The matches between Canada, Russ ...

, and their uncle

Corra Dirksen Cornelius Wilhelmus "Corra" Dirksen (22 January 1938 – 10 July 2020) was a South African rugby player. He won 10 caps and scored three tries. Biography Dirksen made his international debut against Australia in 1963. The 1967 series against ...

won 10

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 ...

caps in the 1960s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dirksen, Hanno South African rugby union players 1991 births Living people Ospreys (rugby union) players New Orleans Gold players Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Gauteng