Danie Poolman

Danie Poolman
Full name Daniel Johannes George Poolman
Date of birth 10 March 1989
Place of birth Pretoria, South Africa
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Weight 92 kg (14 st 7 lb)
School Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Wing
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2010–12
2012–		 Western Province
Connacht		 25
29		 (35)
(40)
correct as of 19 April 2014.
Super Rugby
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2011–12 Stormers 10 (5)
correct as of 29 July 2012.

Danie Poolman (born 10 March 1989) is a professional rugby union player from South Africa. Poolman currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby in the Pro 12. He primarily plays on the wing. Born in Pretoria, he formerly played for Western Province in South Africa's Currie Cup, and Super Rugby side the Stormers.

Career

Youth and Varsity rugby

Poolman played schoolboy rugby for Paul Roos Gymnasium and was included in the Western Province Under-18 side at the 2007 Craven Week tournament. Western Province progressed to the unofficial final match against the Free State Cheetahs, but lost the match 52–3.[1] He played for the Western Province U19 side in 2008 and for their Under-21 sides in 2009 and 2010.[2] He finished as the top try scorer in the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship competition, scoring 17 tries in just 14 appearances.[3]

He also played Varsity Cup rugby for Maties in the 2010 Varsity Cup competition. He started in all nine of Maties' matches in the competition and scored six tries,[4] including a try early in the second half of the final, helping Maties beat local rivals UCT Ikey Tigers 17–14[5] to clinch the Varsity Cup for a third consecutive season.[6]

Western Province and Stormers

Poolman was then included in the Western Province side for the 2010 Vodacom Cup competition.[7] He made his first class debut for them by coming on as a substitute in their match against SWD Eagles on 10 April 2010.[8] His first start came in the Quarter-final match against the Blue Bulls.[9]

Despite not playing any Currie Cup rugby for Western Province, Poolman was included in the Stormers squad prior to the 2011 Super Rugby season[10] and made his Super Rugby debut by starting the Stormers' opening match of the season against the Lions at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.[11] He made eight appearances in that competition, scoring his first senior try in the return leg against the Lions in Johannesburg in a 33–19 win.[12]

He eventually made his Currie Cup debut during the 2011 Currie Cup season in Western Province's match against Griquas[13] and made 13 appearances in the competition, scoring 4 tries. He made just two appearances for the Stormers in the 2012 Super Rugby season, with Gio Aplon and Gerhard van den Heever being preferred to him in the starting line-up. Instead, he dropped down to the Western Province side for the 2012 Vodacom Cup competition, scoring two tries in eight starts.

Connacht

In June 2012, it was announced that he had been released from his Western Province contract to join Irish team Connacht ahead of the 2012–13 season, signing on a three-year deal.[14][15]

Poolman made his debut for Connacht in the 2012–13 Pro 12 as a replacement against the Ospreys on 27 October 2012.[16] He made his first start in the team's next Pro 12 game, against Benetton Treviso on November, and also scored his first try for the side.[17] Poolman made his European debut for Connacht on 7 December 2012 against Biarritz in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. He played in three of the team's Heineken Cup matches in his debut season, and made 16 Pro 12 appearances, scoring 5 tries.[18][19]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Granger, Dale (15 July 2007). "Free State win Craven Week finale in style". IOL. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "SARU profile: Danie Poolman". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship try scorers". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "2010 Varsity Cup try scorers". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Maties vs UCT". South African Rugby Union. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Three from three for composed Maties". Varsity Cup. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "2010 Western Province Vodacom Cup squad". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Western Province vs SWD". South African Rugby Union. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Blue Bulls vs Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "2011 DHL Stormers squad announced". Club Newlands. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Match Breakdown: DHL Stormers vs MTN Lions". South African Rugby Union. 26 February 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Match Breakdown: MTN Lions vs DHL Stormers". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Match Breakdown: DHL Western Province vs GWK Griquas". South African Rugby Union. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Stormers exodus continues". Sport24. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  15. ↑ "Roux will come Storming back". rugby365.com. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "Ospreys 26 – 9 Connacht Rugby". RaboDirectPRO12. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "Debutant Poolman on song as Connacht return to winning ways". 11 November 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "Connacht Squad Index: Danie Poolman". RaboDirectPRO12. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Player Archive: Danie Poolman". ERC. Retrieved 6 March 2014.