Jean Droste

Summary

Jean Droste (born 21 January 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Blue Bulls XV in the Rugby Challenge.[1] His regular position is lock, but he can also play as a flanker.

Jean Droste
Date of birth (1994-01-21) 21 January 1994 (age 30)
Place of birthPretoria, South Africa
Height1.99 m (6 ft 6+12 in)
Weight111 kg (17 st 7 lb; 245 lb)
SchoolAfrikaanse Hoër Seunskool
UniversityUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock / Flanker
Current team Cheetahs / Free State Cheetahs
Youth career
2007–2014 Blue Bulls
2015 Sharks
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016 UKZN Impi 7 (5)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2018 Sharks XV 14 (0)
2016–2017 Sharks (Currie Cup) 14 (0)
2017–2018 Sharks 3 (0)
2018–2019 Kubota Spears 1 (0)
2019 Blue Bulls XV 2 (0)
2019 Blue Bulls 3 (0)
2020 NEC Green Rockets 1 (0)
2021 Free State Cheetahs 7 (0)
2022 Munakata Sanix Blues 6 (5)
2022– Cheetahs ()
2023– Free State Cheetahs ()
Correct as of 12 January 2022

Rugby career edit

2007–2014 : Youth rugby / Blue Bulls edit

Droste was born in Pretoria. He was selected to represent the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls as early as primary school level, when he played for them at the 2007 Under-13 Craven Week. He didn't win any call-ups at high school level, but joined the Blue Bulls academy after finishing school.

He made nine starts and two appearances as a replacement in the Blue Bulls U19s' Under-19 Provincial Championship campaign in 2013, appearing both as a lock and a flanker. He scored tries in home victories over Golden Lions U19[2] and Leopards U19[3] as the Blue Bulls won all twelve of their matches during the regular season to finish top of the log,[4] before beating the Leopards in the semi-final[5] and the Golden Lions in the final[6] to secure the title.

He found his involvement more limited for the Blue Bulls U21s in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, making just one start and three appearances off the bench. One of those were in their 23–19 semi-final win over the Golden Lions U21s,[7] but he didn't feature in the final, in which the Blue Bulls beat Western Province U21 20–10 in Cape Town.[8]

2015–present : Sharks and UKZN Impi edit

Droste moved to Durban for the 2015 to join the Sharks. He made his first class debut in May 2015, starting the Sharks XV's Vodacom Cup match against the Eastern Province Kings in Port Elizabeth,[9] his only appearance in the competition.

He made seven appearances for the Sharks U21 in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship, as the team finished in third place to qualify for the title play-offs,[10] coming on as a replacement in their semi-final defeat to the Free State U21s.[11]

At the start of 2016, Droste played some Varsity Shield rugby for UKZN Impi. He started seven of eight matches, scoring a try in a 63–30 victory over TUT Vikings.[12] His team won seven of their eight matches and would have finished joint-top of the log with Wits,[13] but they had 12 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player, therefore missing out on the title play-offs and a shot at promotion to the Varsity Cup.[14]

He made three more first class appearances for the Sharks XV in July 2016 during the Currie Cup qualification series, as they finished in tenth place on the log.[15] He was also included in the Sharks squad for the Currie Cup Premier Division, and he made his debut at that level in a 27–34 defeat to Western Province in Round Five of the competition.[16] He was an unused replacement against the Free State Cheetahs,[17] but made a second appearance in their 53–0 victory over the Eastern Province Kings.[18] Despite being in the top two on the log for the majority of the series, a defeat to the Golden Lions in the final round of the season[19] saw the Sharks drop out of the top four altogether, finishing in fifth place and missing out on a semi-final spot.[20]

At the end of October 2016, Droste was included in the Sharks Super Rugby squad for the 2017 season.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Jean Droste". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  2. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 15–12 MTN Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 48–12 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  4. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2013 Absa Under 19 Competition". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  5. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 37–21 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions 23–35 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  7. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U21 23–19 Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  8. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U21 10–20 Blue Bulls U21". South African Rugby Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  9. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 23–8 Cell C Sharks XV". South African Rugby Union. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  10. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2015 Absa Under 21 Competition". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  11. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U21 27–22 Sharks U21". South African Rugby Union. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  12. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB TUT 30–63 FNB UKZN". South African Rugby Union. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  13. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  14. ^ "FNB UKZN docked points in the Varsity Shield" (Press release). Varsity Cup. 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  15. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 Currie Cup Qualifying". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  16. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 34–27 Cell C Sharks". South African Rugby Union. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  17. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Cell C Sharks 30–38 Toyota Free State Cheetahs". South African Rugby Union. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  18. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Cell C Sharks 53–0 Eastern Province Kings". South African Rugby Union. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  19. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions 28–16 Cell C Sharks". South African Rugby Union. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  20. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  21. ^ "Pre-season training squad announcement" (Press release). Sharks. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.