Daniel Rudolf Marais (born 21 January 1992, in Bloemfontein) is a South African rugby union player for Yamaha Júbilo in the Top League in Japan. He usually plays as a centre, but can also play as a fly-half or fullback.

Career

Youth

Marais first represented the Free State in 2005, when he was part of their squad for the 2005 Under-13 Craven Week competition. He represented the side (playing mainly as a fullback) in the Under-19 Provincial Championship competitions in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, scoring 124 points in the latter competition to finish third in the scoring charts. He advanced to the side, playing the majority of matches for them during the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

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 ...

seasons, with 2013 also seeing him starting to play mainly as a centre.

Free State Cheetahs

He was included in the 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 ...

competition and made his senior debut when he started the opening match of the season, a 31–8 victory over the in George. He made a total of six appearances during the competition. He returned to Vodacom Cup action in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, captaining the side and scoring 41 points in his six starts. His first try in first class rugby came in their opening day match against the , with Marais adding another 10 points with the boot.

Griquas

In May 2014, he joined on a two-month deal for the duration of 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 ...

series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marais, Niel South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union players from Bloemfontein Free State Cheetahs players Rugby union centres Griquas (rugby union) players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Shizuoka Blue Revs players Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne players Pumas (Currie Cup) players