Shaun Reynolds (born 15 June 1995) 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 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 ...

, 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 the in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is fly-half.

Rugby career

Schoolboy rugby / Griffons

Reynolds was born in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, but grew up in

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The cit ...

, where he earned call-ups to represent the provincial side at national competitions since primary school level. He represented them at the Under-13 Craven Week in 2008, the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2011 and played twice at 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 ...

, in 2012 and 2013. He was the main kicker for the team at the 2013 event held in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

, kicking 47 points in addition to scoring two tries to finish the tournament as the overall top scorer. He also played at Under-19 level for the Griffons in their

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 ...

campaigns.

Youth rugby / Golden Lions

After school, Reynolds 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 played for the team in 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 ...

, scoring 74 points in nine starts. His tally included four tries, with two of those coming in a 41–36 victory over the s. He was named on the bench for the 's

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 ...

match against the , but failed to make an appearance. He played for the team in the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring 84 points in 12 appearances, top-scoring for his side and fourth overall in Group A of the competition.

Senior career

Reynolds was named in the squad for the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

series. He made his first class debut by coming on as a replacement in their opening match against the in a 23–27 defeat. He again played off the bench in their next match against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n side the in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and scored his first senior points as he converted to tries in a 66–12 victory for his side. He was promoted to the starting line-up for their next match against

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 ...

rivals the and kicked eleven points in a 38–17 victory. The next week, he scored his first senior try in a 24–27 defeat to in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He alternated the starting fly-half spot with the more experienced

Marnitz Boshoff Marnitz Louis Boshoff (born 11 January 1989) is a South African rugby union player who usually plays as a fly-half or fullback. He plays for the in Super Rugby, the in the Currie Cup and the in the Rugby Challenge, having previously played ...

for the next few weeks of the campaign, before travelling with the

team for their final match of the regular season against the in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Shaun 1995 births Living people Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Bloemfontein South African people of British descent South African rugby union players USON Nevers players White South African people