Lourens Jacobus Erasmus (born 14 June 1993) is a 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 its m ...

player for the in

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 ...

and

NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka is a Japanese rugby union team owned by NTT DoCoMo. They qualified for the 2011–12 season and finished 12th place overall. The team rebranded in 2022, ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugb ...

in the

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ese

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 ...

. His regular position is lock.

Career

Erasmus attended Hoërskool Garsfontein in Pretoria between 2007 and 2011, but never represented the at any high school rugby tournaments. After

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in 2011, he made the move 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 ...

to join the academy prior to the 2012 season. He started in twelve of the side's matches during the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participating teams in the 201 ...

, scoring two tries in an 83–3 victory over in their final match of the regular season as the Golden Lions finished in fourth position on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. One of his starts came in the semi-final against , but he could not prevent the side from

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winning the match 24–14. He moved up to Under-21 level in 2013 and played in seven matches for the . He once again finished the regular season by scoring two tries in a match, this time in a 76–7 victory over the s, and once again suffered a semi-final defeat at the hands of Western Province, who beat the Golden Lions U21s 44–41 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. In 2014, Erasmus was included in the squad for the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Cu ...

competition. He made his first class debut by coming on as a late replacement in a match against near-neighbours the in a 23–22 victory. After another appearance off the bench against the , Eramus scored his first senior try in a 40–37 victory over the in Johannesburg. He made his first start in their Round Six match against the in

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and scored one of the Golden Lions' sixteen tries in a 110–0 victory. The Golden Lions finished in fourth spot on the Northern Section log to secure a place in the quarter finals, where they met a that topped the Southern Section. Erasmus played off the bench in a 27–20 victory in the match in

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 ...

and also in their 16–15 victory over trans-

Jukskei Jukskei is a 270-year-old folk sport ( af, Boeresport) developed and played in South Africa. History Jukskei is believed to have originated around 1743 in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, developed by "transport riders" who traveled with ox ...

rivals the . He started the final against the in

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in an unfamiliar Eighth man role and could not prevent his side losing the match 6–30 to finish the competition as runners-up. He was named in the squad for the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

, but failed to make any appearances in the competition. He returned to action for the Golden Lions in the

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 ...

. He made three appearances as a replacement during the regular season of the competition and started their 29–21 quarter final victory over the . He didn't feature in the semi-final, which saw eventual champions the win the match 43–20. Erasmus was included in the Golden Lions'

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 ...

side for the first time in

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 was named on the bench for their Round Five match against the in Johannesburg. In the Golden Lions' opening match of the

2016 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division was the top tier of the second stage of the 2016 Currie Cup, the 78th edition of this annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 5 August and ...

against the , Erasmus scored a try after just 8.5 seconds, the fastest try in the history of the competition.

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Lourens 1993 births Living people Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players Rugby union locks Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Pretoria South African rugby union players Urayasu D-Rocks players