JJ Engelbrecht

Johannes Jacobus Engelbrecht (born 22 February 1989) is a former South African professional rugby union player who played as a wing or outside centre.^[1][2]

JJ Engelbrecht

Full name	Johannes Jacobus Engelbrecht
Date of birth	(1989-02-22) 22 February 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	99 kg (15 st 8 lb; 218 lb)
School	Grey High School
University	Stellenbosch University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Outside Centre / Wing Youth career 2007 Eastern Province Kings 2008–2010 Western Province Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2009 Maties 2 (15) Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2008–2011 Western Province 38 (120) 2011 Stormers 0 (0) 2012–2015 Bulls 65 (45) 2012–2015 Blue Bulls 15 (0) 2015–2018 Toyota Industries Shuttles 21 (35) 2016 Ospreys 4 (0) 2018–2019 Stormers 20 (15) 2018 Western Province 5 (10) 2019 Clermont 1 (0) 2020 Sunwolves 5 (0) Correct as of 2 February 2022 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2013 South Africa 12 (20) 2015 World XV 1 (0) Correct as of 18 November 2013

Rugby career

Youth

Engelbrecht attended Grey High School in the Eastern Cape until 2007, where he also played rugby for their first XV rugby team, alongside fellow future professional Tim Whitehead.^[3] He also earned a call-up to represent Eastern Province at the premium high school rugby union competition – the Under-18 Craven Week – held in Stellenbosch in 2007.

Western Province / Blue Bulls

After finishing high school, Engelbrecht moved to Cape Town to join the Western Province academy. He represented them in the domestic Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions between 2009 and 2011, before joining teammates Johann Sadie and Lionel Cronjé in making the move to Pretoria to join the Blue Bulls ahead of the 2012 season.^[4] He established himself in the Bulls Super Rugby team during the 2012 Super Rugby season, scoring three tries in seventeen appearances in the competition. He broke into the national team and signed a contract extension in June 2013 to keep him at the Blue Bulls until 2016.^[5]

Toyota Industries Shuttles

After the 2015 Super Rugby season, Engelbrecht joined Japanese Top League side Toyota Industries Shuttles for the 2015–2016 season.^[6]

Ospreys

In January 2016, the Bulls released him from his contract^[7] to join Welsh Pro12 side Ospreys for the remainder of the 2016–2017 season.^[8]

Representative rugby

Engelbrecht made his debut for South Africa on 18 August 2012 against Argentina, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute.^[9] He made a further eleven appearances for the Springboks during 2013 and was offered a core contract by the Springboks for 2014,^[10] but failed to feature in any matches for the national team.

Engelbrecht also missed out on selection for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but did play in a match for a World XV against a South Africa XV in a warm-up match prior to the tournament.^[11]