Louis Erasmus Albertse (born in Ermelo,

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 in the

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 in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is tighthead prop.

Rugby career

2007–2008 : KwaZulu Natal

Albertse grew up in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

and earned his first provincial selection in 2007, when he represented KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts at the Under-18 Academy Week. In 2008, he was selected by KwaZulu-Natal for the premier high school rugby union tournament in South Africa, 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

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

, where he started in all three their matches.

2009–2011 : Golden Lions

After high school, Albertse moved to

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 joined the academy. He was a key member of that participated in the 2009 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He started five of their matches in the regular season and appeared as a replacement in the other, helping the Golden Lions finish in fourth position on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. He started their 32–30 victory over in the semi-final, as well as the final, which won 45–13 in Pretoria. In 2010, he made four starts and three appearances off the bench for in the Group A of the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship in a disappointing season that saw them finish in sixth position and missing out on the play-offs. He was named in their squad for the 2011 Under-21 Provincial Championship, but failed to make any appearances in the competition.

2012–2013 : Blue Bulls

Albertse moved to

to join the prior to the 2012 season. He was named in their 2012 Vodacom Cup squad, but didn't appear in any matches. He was once again named in their squad for the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

and he made his first class debut by playing off the bench in their opening match of the competition, a 40–32 victory over in Kimberley. After more appearances off the bench in matches against the , , and the , he made his first senior start in an 89–10 victory over the in their final match of the regular season. The Blue Bulls finished in second position on the Northern Section log to qualify for the quarter-finals, but Albertse didn't feature in their 31–34 defeat to the .

2013–2016 : Aix / Provence

Albertse then moved to France, where he joined a Pays d'Aix side that was newly relegated to the third-tier

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 20 ...

for the 2013–2014 season. He made his debut for them by playing off the bench in their 10–24 defeat to

CS Vienne CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

. After another appearance as a replacement against SO Chambéry, he made his first start in a defeat to US Annecy in their next match. He eventually made nine starts and a further eight substitute appearances as Aix finished in third position in Pool 2 of the competition. He started the second leg of their Last 16 play-off fixtures against FC Oloron, helping them progress on aggregate despite a 17–25 defeat. He played in both legs of their quarter-final against

RC Massy Rugby Club Massy Essonne is a French rugby union club from Massy, Essonne that play in Pro D2, the second tier of the French league system. They are based in Massy, Essonne, in the southern suburbs of Paris and were founded in 1971. They were ...

, but could not prevent them losing 50–61 on aggregate to be eliminated from the finals. Aix had a much-improved season in 2014–15, winning fifteen of their eighteen matches in Pool 4 of the competition to qualify for the finals for the second season in succession. Albertse was once again a regular player, featuring in eleven of their matches during the regular season. He started the second leg of their Last 16 match against Montluçon Rugby, helping them progress 45–29 on aggregate and then helped them go one step further that in 2013–2014 by winning their quarter-final tie against RC Aubenas; Albertse played in the second leg of a 48–43 aggregate victory. He also played in their 27–12 victory over SO Chambéry, where Aix overturned a 10–24 defeat in the first leg to win 37–36 on aggregate, and in the final, where he came on as a replacement on the hour mark to help Aix secure a 12–6 victory to win the championship and gain promotion to the 2015–2016 Pro D2. Aix changed their name to Provence Rugby shortly after securing promotion and Albertse made seven appearances for the team in the

Rugby 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 ...

competition. In February 2016, Albertse played his last match for Provence, helping them to a 30–16 victory over before leaving the club to return to South Africa. He made a total of 39 appearances for the team, without scoring any tries during his time there.

2016 : Southern Kings

Upon his return to South Africa, Albertse joined the

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 ...

-based

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

franchise the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They wer ...

for a trial period and a week later, he was included on the bench for their opening match of 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 ...

against the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albertse, Louis South African rugby union players Living people 1990 births People from Ermelo, Mpumalanga Rugby union props Blue Bulls players Southern Kings players Alumni of Michaelhouse Rugby union players from KwaZulu-Natal Provence Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in France Pumas (Currie Cup) players South African expatriate rugby union players Rugby union players from Mpumalanga South African expatriate sportspeople in France