Breyton Paulse (born 25 April 1976 in De Keur, Koue Bokkeveld) is a South African 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 ...

player who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

for the national team, the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, from 1999 to 2007. He played 64

test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for South Africa, scoring 26 tries.

Early life

In his youth, in addition to rugby, he participated in cricket, soccer, and athletics, representing Boland in the 200m and 400m sprints. The farmer who employed his parents recognized his talent for rugby, and to nurture it, paid his tuition fees to attend Stellenbosch University, which has produced many Springbok rugby players.

Rugby career

Paulse garnered attention almost from the start of his top-flight rugby career with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of tries in his first

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 ...

match in 1996, and made his debut for the

in 1999. In his first appearance for the Springboks against

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 scored a hat-trick. After scoring his third try that day, he performed his trademark ''flick flack'', a cartwheel followed by a back flip, which he continued to perform after particularly special tries. At the end of the 2000 domestic season, he became the first player of color to be named South African Rugby Player of the Year, capping a season in which he scored two tries in Western Province's win over Natal in the

final In the Currie Cup, playing mainly for , he has averaged nearly a try a match. Paulse moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for the 2005–2006 season and played for

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He remained eligible for Springboks selection, as

SA Rugby The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

abandoned its past policy of requiring that Springbok players play domestic rugby in South Africa. Springboks coach

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

indeed selected him for the 2005 Tri Nations, and started him in South Africa's first three matches. Paulse scored an important try in South Africa's series-opening 22–16 win over Australia. However, in the Springboks' third match (against Australia), Paulse received a three-week suspension for kicking Australian prop Al Baxter. In the end of 2006, Paulse was picked by the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

franchise to be part of their team for the

2007 Super 14 The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. The ...

where he strengthened his chances to once again don the Springboks colors. He was selected for the squad that was present 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 ...

finals, but was only selected to 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 ...

finals, as a reserve player. His last appearance in the green and gold was against New Zealand at Christchurch in 2007 at the age of 31.

International statistics

Test Match Record

P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

Test tries (26)

Stance on Quotas

Breyton Paulse has spoken out against the use of racial quotas to diversify South African rugby, saying, "It is a big degradation for the players... tnearly broke me", after Springbok rugby coach

Nick Mallet Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the South Africa national rugby union team, Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Sprin ...

described his selection in the 1999 World Cup Squad as "merit with bias". Despite this knock to his confidence, he went on to become one of South Africa's most capped players and leading try scorers by the time he retired.

Honours

;

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

: 1997, 2000, 2001 ;

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 ...

* Tri Nations:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

*
South Africa caps, Part 1 (sporting-heroes.net)South Africa caps, Part 2 (sporting-heroes.net)South Africa caps, Part 3 (sporting-heroes.net)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulse, Breyton 1976 births Living people Cape Coloureds South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union wings ASM Clermont Auvergne players South Africa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from the Western Cape