Johannes Jacobus Engelbrecht (born 22 February 1989) is a former South African professional

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 it ...

player who played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

outside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Rugby career

Youth

Engelbrecht attended Grey High School in the Eastern Cape until 2007, where he also played rugby for their first XV rugby team, alongside fellow future professional Tim Whitehead. He also earned a call-up to represent Eastern Province at the premium high school rugby union 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 to ...

– held in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

in 2007.

Western Province / Blue Bulls

After finishing high school, Engelbrecht moved to

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 ...

to join the academy. He represented them in the domestic

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

competitions between 2009 and 2011, before joining teammates

Johann Sadie Johann Sadie (born 23 January 1989 in Malmesbury, South Africa) is a professional South African rugby union player. He usually plays as a centre and currently plays for French Top 14 side . Rugby career Stormers / Western Province Sadie starte ...

and

Lionel Cronjé Lionel Cronjé (born 25 May 1989) is a South African rugby union footballer, currently playing for The Sharks in the Carling Currie Cup. He is a versatile back-line player who can operate as a fly-half or full-back. Career Cronjé previousl ...

in making the move to

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

to join the ahead of the 2012 season. He established himself in the Super Rugby team during the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the current 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involves teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super R ...

, scoring three tries in seventeen appearances in the competition. He broke into the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

and signed a contract extension in June 2013 to keep him at the until 2016.

Toyota Industries Shuttles

After the

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 ...

, Engelbrecht joined Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

side Toyota Industries Shuttles for the 2015–2016 season.

Ospreys

In January 2016, the Bulls released him from his contract to join Welsh

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 ...

side Ospreys for the remainder of the 2016–2017 season.

Representative rugby

Engelbrecht made his debut for on 18 August 2012 against , coming on as a 70th-minute substitute. He made a further eleven appearances for the Springboks during 2013 and was offered a core contract by the Springboks for 2014, but failed to feature in any matches for the national team. Engelbrecht also missed out on selection for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but did play in a match for a

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

against a South Africa XV in a warm-up match prior to the tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelbrecht, JJ Living people 1989 births South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth Western Province (rugby union) players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Stellenbosch University alumni Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Ospreys (rugby union) players South African expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate rugby union players in Wales Sunwolves players Stormers players ASM Clermont Auvergne players