Juan Michael Language (born 19 April 1989 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

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 ...

) 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 last played for the . He can play as a flanker or a number eight.

Career

Youth, club and varsity rugby

He played high school rugby for Hoërskool Framesby in his hometown of Port Elizabeth. In 2007, he was selected to represent an Eastern Province Under-18 side at the Academy Week tournament. While at Framesby, Language also played sevens rugby. In January 2007, he took part in a high school sevens tournament involving schools from across the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

and from

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. He helped Framesby win the competition and was also named Player of the Tournament. He moved to

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, where he joined the academy. In 2010, he played for the side in the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Competition, making three appearances off the bench. Between 2011 and 2013, he played club rugby for Durban-based club side College Rovers. In 2012, College Rovers won the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union's premier club competition, the Moor Cup, which meant they qualified to the inaugural SARU Community Cup competition in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. Language was a regular starter for College Rovers in the competition, playing in all four matches during the pool stages, in their quarter-final match against Durbanville-Bellville and, after sitting out the semi-final, he started in the Final of the competition against

side Despatch. College Rovers fell just short in the final, losing the match 26–24 with Language playing the full 80 minutes. Prior to the 2014 season, College Rovers head coach Robert du Preez was appointed as the coach of

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

-based provincial union the , as well as university side the . Language was among a number of players that followed Du Preez to

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

. He featured prominently for during the

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...

tournament, starting seven of their nine matches during the competition as they reached the final of the competition for only the second time. He also played in the final, as the Pukke lost the match in dramatic fashion; they were leading 33–15 with five minutes left to play, but allowed the to score three late tries to win the match 39–33 and win their second

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 ...

title.

Leopards

Language's performances during the 2014 Varsity Cup led to his inclusion in the squad for the

2014 Currie Cup qualification The 2014 Currie Cup qualification series was a tournament organised by the South African Rugby Union. It featured seven teams and was played in June and July 2014, with the winner qualifying for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division. The remaining ...

competition. Despite no first class appearances to his name, he was also named vice-captain for the competition. He made his first class debut on 7 June 2014 against the at . He had an immediate and significant impact in the match and scored two tries either side of half-time to help the Leopards to a 51–23 victory. He continued his scoring streak in the next match as he scored a try against the in Kempton Park to send the Leopards top of the log. He was the captain of the team that won the

2015 Currie Cup First Division The 2015 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 August to 8 October 2015. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union compet ...

. He featured in a total of thirteen matches during the

2015 Currie Cup qualification The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...

rounds and First Division proper and scored seven tries for the side to be the top try scorer during the second round of fixtures. He also scored two of the Leopards' tries in the final, helping them to a 44–20 victory over the to win the competition for the first time in their history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Language, Juan South African rugby union players Living people 1989 births Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Leopards (rugby union) players