Louis Koen (rugby union)

Louis Johannes Koen (born 7 July 1975 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South-African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, until 2003, when he moved abroad following the World Cup.

Louis Koen

Full name	Louis Johannes Koen
Date of birth	(1975-07-07) 7 July 1975 (age 50)
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	13 st 6 lb (188 lb; 85 kg)
School	Paarl Gymnasium
University	Stellenbosch University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1996–1999 Stormers 12 (86) 1996–1999 Western Province 46 (577) 2000–2002 Cats 28 (330) 2000–2002 Lions 28 (391) 2003 Bulls 11 (139) 2003–2005 Narbonne 10 (67) 2010 Boland Cavaliers 1 (12) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2000–2003 South Africa 15 (147)

Effective at either fly half or full back, his career began with Western Province, before his move to the Lions and later the Bulls. He was part of the Western Province team that won the Currie Cup in 1997, contributing immensely with his accurate goal kicking. It was this dependable boot that led to his recall to the Springbok team in 2003 after a two-year absence, but following a difficult tournament^[1] and South Africa's disappointing exit in the quarter-finals, Koen was signed by Narbonne in France. After two years dogged by injury, Koen moved back to Western Province as only the second full-time kicking coach in South Africa.^[2] In 2010 he was recalled out of retirement to play one Currie Cup First Division match for the Boland Cavaliers against the Valke.

Career

Provincial

• Lions (South Africa) – 28 caps
• Western Province (South Africa) – 46 caps
• Boland Cavaliers – 1 cap

Super Rugby

• Stormers (South Africa) – 12 caps (86 points- 2 tries, 20 conversions, 11 penalty goals, 1 drop goal)
• Cats (South Africa) – 28 caps (330 points- 3 tries, 42 conversions, 74 penalty goals, 3 drop goals)
• Bulls (South Africa) – 11 caps (139 points- 17 conversions, 28 penalty goals, 7 drop goals)

Club

• Stellenbosch

National team

He made his debut for South Africa against Australia on 8 July 2000.

He played four matches in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. During the game between South Africa and Samoa, as Koen prepared to take a conversion, a drunk rugby fan ran onto the field and attempted to tackle Koen, knocking himself out. Koen succeeded with the conversion.^[3]

Achievements

With the Springboks

(as of 31 December 2005)

• 15 caps
• 0 tries, 23 conversions, 31 penalties, 2 drops
• 145 points
• Selections per season : 1 in 2000, 3 in 2001, 11 in 2003.
• Participation at the World Cup 2003 (4 matches).

With club and province

• Scored 577 points for Western Province (46 matches, 11 tries, 123 conversions, 92 penalty goals) (1996–99)
• Scored 391 points for Lions (28 matches, 5 tries, 87 conversions, 60 penalty goals, 4 drop goals) (2000–02)
• Scored 12 points for Boland Cavaliers (1 match, 3 conversions, 2 penalty goals) (2010)

Coaching

In February 2022, Koen, then the South African Rugby Union's high-performance manager, was appointed to assist Heyneke Meyer with the Houston SaberCats.^[4]

In March 2023, Koen was appointed interim coach of the South Africa women's national rugby union team.^[5]