Philip Eloff (born 17 September 1978) is an American former

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. Eloff played for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

from 2000 to 2007, earning 35 caps.

Early life

Eloff was born in

Thabazimbi Thabazimbi is an iron mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is at the feet of the Ysterberg and is surrounded by the Witfonteinrand and Boshofberg with the majestic Kransberg in the background. The name Thabazimbi mean ...

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 ...

. He went to college at

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

and played his club rugby with the

Chicago Lions Founded in 1964, the Chicago Lions Rugby Football Club is a USA Rugby club based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Chicago Lions namesake is taken from the two large lion statues that guard the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago Bui ...

of the Rugby Super League.

Career

Eloff scored 10 tries in his U.S. international career, ranking him second on the list of all-time U.S. try scorers at the time of his retirement (he has since fallen to fourth). His scoring includes a two-try performance in a win against Spain in a qualifying match for the 2003 Rugby World Cup and three tries against Barbados in a 2006 match. Eloff played for the U.S. at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, starting all four matches and scoring a try in the US 39–26 victory against Japan. He participated with the U.S. squad at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, playing in three matches including two starts (missing the first match as he was recovering from injury), and he retired from international play following the 2007 tournament.ESPNScrum, Player Analysis, Phillip Eloff, http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/player/13392.html?class=1;template=results;type=player;view=match

Personal life

Philip Eloff is the older brother of

JP Eloff Jean-Pierre "JP" Eloff (born 28 May 1991) is an American rugby union player who plays Fullback for the Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby (MLR) and also for the United States national rugby union team. Eloff played college rugby at Davenpo ...

, who starred on the

Davenport University Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification progra ...

rugby team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eloff, Phillip 1978 births Living people People from Thabazimbi Local Municipality Rugby union scrum-halves American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Rugby union players from Limpopo Northeastern Illinois University alumni South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States South African rugby union players

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References