Thorleif Halvorsen (born 9 May 1988 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 ...

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 for Rovigo Delta in the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He usually plays as a loose forward.

Rugby career

Boland Cavaliers

Halvorsen played for the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

-based at youth level, representing them in the Under-19 Provincial Championships in 2006 and 2007 and in the Under-21 Provincial Championships in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, he was included in their senior squad for the first time for their

2010 Currie Cup First Division The 2010 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 16 July through to 15 October 2010. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union ...

campaign. He made his first class debut on 6 August 2010 in their Round Four match against the , starting in a 36–45 defeat in

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. He made a further two starts and three appearances as a replacement during the remainder of the campaign, helping Boland to finish in third position on the log to qualify for the title play-offs. He was named on the bench for their semi-final match against the , but wasn't used in a 25–26 defeat in

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 ...

. He made five appearances in the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South A ...

competition for a Boland side that finished sixth in the Southern Section of the competition before returning for his second

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 ...

campaign. He made three starts and four appearances as a replacement for them during the regular season, helping them to nine victories out of ten to finish top of the log. He came on as a replacement just before the hour mark in their semi-final match against the and scored his first try in first class rugby a few minutes after coming on, as his side eased to a 50–20 victory. He also played off the bench in the final, where his team secured a 43–12 win over the to win the title. He made a single appearance in the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, ...

– starting in a 22–51 defeat to

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

rivals – but made eight appearances as the team attempted to defend their Currie Cup title. After four appearances as a replacement in rounds two to five, he made four consecutive starts later in the season. It was a disappointing season for the defending champions, winning just three of their fourteen matches and finishing the season in sixth position. Halvorsen started 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 ...

season in good form, scoring two first-half tries in a 27–23 victory over a in his first appearance of the season. He made a further three appearances, but the team's failed to pick up another victory and eventually finished bottom of the Southern Section log. He made a further six appearances in the

2013 Currie Cup First Division The 2013 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 June to 11 October 2013. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competiti ...

, his last matches in a Boland Cavaliers shirt.

Mogliano

Halvorsen moved to

to join National Championship of Excellence side

Mogliano Mogliano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about south of Ancona and about south of Macerata. Mogliano rises on a hill at 313 m. on the sea level and halfway between the Sibillini ...

prior to the 2013–14 season. He immediately established himself as the first-choice number eight at Mogliano, starting 18 of their 22 matches during the season and scoring two tries. Mogliano finished in third position on the log and Halvorsen featured in their 19-22 and 30–31 defeats against

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

in the two-legged semi-final. In addition to the National Championship of Excellence, Halvorsen also made five appearances in the

2013–14 European Challenge Cup The 2013–14 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 18th and final season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated: 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockou ...

. His side had a poor season in

Pool 2 Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky poo ...

of the competition, however, losing all six of their matches. In the 2014–2015 season, Halvorsen made 16 appearances – including 14 starts – for Mogliano as the team once again finished in third position on the log. After scoring four tries during the regular season against

, San Donà,

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and

Calvisano Calvisano (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the Italy, Italian province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is the manufacturing base of Lones Spa, manufacturer of Fly Flot shoes. Agritech is a known fiberglass silos company. Sport Its rugby union team, ...

, he scored his fifth try of the season in the first leg of their semi-final play-off series against Calvisano. However, it wasn't enough as his side lost the match 15–30, and a 24–23 second leg victory wasn't enough to overturn the deficit, which meant Mogliano got eliminated at the semi-final stage for the second season in a row. As in 2014–15, Halvorsen made 14 starts and two appearances off the bench in the 2015–2016 season. He contributed two tries over the course of the season, helping Mogliano reach the semi-finals for the third season in succession since he joined the club. However, his team was also eliminated at this stage for the third season in a row, losing 10–13 and 17–34 to Rovigo in the two legs of their semi-final play-off matches.

SWD Eagles

In June 2016, Halvorsen returned to South Africa, joining the

George, Western Cape George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is na ...

-based during 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 Eagles debut in their Round Ten match against the , helping them to a 39–22 victory. A week later, he started their 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 ...

, scoring his first try in an Eagles shirt in the third minute of the match, the first of fourteen tries that the away side scored in a 96–5 victory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorsen, Thor South African rugby union players Living people 1988 births Rugby union players from Cape Town Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Boland Cavaliers players Mogliano Rugby players SWD Eagles players South African expatriate rugby union players in Italy Rugby Rovigo Delta players