Ivan van Zyl (born 30 June 1995) 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

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 ...

. His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Youth

Van Zyl represented the Blue Bulls as early as primary school level, appearing at the Under-13 Craven Week competition in 2008. In July 2013, he also played for them at the premier South African high school rugby competition, the Under-18

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 ...

held in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

. He made three appearances and scored two tries in a personal haul of 25 points. Van Zyl joined the Blue Bulls Academy after finishing high school and represented the side in the

2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Grou ...

, starting ten matches and making two substitute appearances as they reached the final of the competition, where they were defeated 26–33 by .

Under-20

Van Zyl was named in a 37-man training squad for the

South Africa national under-20 rugby union team The South Africa national under-20 rugby union team (nicknamed the Junior Boks or the Baby Boks) are South Africa's junior team at national level. They have been competing in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship (formerly the IRB Junior World Cham ...

and featured for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015. He was also included in the squad that embarked on a two-match tour of

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 ...

. He came on as a replacement in their 25–22 victory over

and started their 39–28 victory a few days later. Upon the team's return, Van Zyl was named in the final squad for the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

. He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, a 40–8 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and a 46–13 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Van Zyl started their semi-final match against

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 ...

, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession and also started their third-place play-off match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.

Senior level

Van Zyl made his first class debut for the on 6 March 2015, starting their

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Africa ...

match against the in Kempton Park, helping them to a 37–13 victory. He also started their next three matches in the competition, against the , and . In June 2015, Van Zyl extended his contract at the Bulls until October 2017. He was included in the squad for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was t ...

and named in the matchday squad for all eleven of their matches in the competition. He made his Currie Cup debut by playing off the bench in their 57–19 victory against the in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

in their opening match of the season. After appearing as a replacement in their next two matches against and , he made his first Currie Cup start in their Round Four match against the Free State Cheetahs in Pretoria. He appeared as a replacement in five of their remaining six matches during the regular season of the season, helping the Blue Bulls finish in second position to qualify for the play-offs. He played off the bench in their semi-final match against Western Province, but could not prevent the side from

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 ...

winning 23–18 to eliminate the Blue Bulls from the competition. In 2016, Van Zyl was included in the ' squad for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

. On 23 February 2021, Van Zyl signed for

ahead of the 2021–22 season. He helped Saracens win the Premiership title in 2023, scoring a try in the final as Saracens defeated

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

Springbok debut

Van Zyl made his Test debut for the senior

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on 2 June 2018 against

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 Washington, D.C. at the age of 22 years.

Honours

* Super Rugby Unlocked winner

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

* Currie Cup winner

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Pro14 Rainbow Cup runner-up

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Premiership Rugby runner up 2021-22 * Premiership Rugby winner 2022-23

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Zyl, Ivan South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Pretoria Rugby union scrum-halves Blue Bulls players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Saracens F.C. players Alumni of Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool South African expatriate rugby union players in England