Josh Katzen

Joshua Mathew Katzen (born 7 June 1992 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played with Western Province.^[1] His regular position is flanker or number eight.

Career

Katzen played rugby for Wynberg Boys' High School, but was not selected to represent his provincial union Western Province at any youth tournaments. After high school, however, he joined the Western Province Rugby Institute. In 2012, he played for Western Province U21 in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He made four appearances during the regular season of the competition, helping his side to finish in third spot on the log to earn a semi-final spot. He also made a crucial contribution in their final regular season match, scoring two tries in their 39–33 victory over Free State U21.^[2] He started their 19–18 win over the Sharks U21s in the semi-final^[3] and also started the final, where he could not prevent his side losing 13–22 to the Blue Bulls U21s.^[4] He also won the award for Western Province's Most Promising Under-21 player at their 2012 end-of-season awards ceremony.^[5]

He made four appearances for the UCT Ikey Tigers in the 2013 Varsity Cup competition, scoring a try in their match against the NWU Pukke.^[6] Overall, his team had a disappointing season, finishing second-bottom in the competition.

He was named the captain of the Western Province U21 side that played in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship and started nine of their fourteen matches. He scored tries against Leopards U21,^[7] Sharks U21^[8] and Golden Lions U21^[9] during the regular season, guiding his side to eleven wins in twelve matches. He started in an epic semi-final match, with Western Province U21 eventually winning the match 44–31 after extra time.^[10] He also started the final against Blue Bulls U21 and scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance as his side ran out 30–23 winners to be crowned 2013 champions.^[11]

Katzen missed a few fixtures due to his involvement with the senior team. He was included in the Western Province squad for the 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division and made his first class debut by coming on as a late replacement in their 19–13 victory over Griquas.^[12] He again came on as a late replacement in their 29–27 victory over the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein a week later^[13] and was named on the bench for the third consecutive time for a match against the Golden Lions in Cape Town, but wasn't used in the home side's 36–23 victory.^[14]

Katzen picked up a shoulder injury that kept him out of the start of the 2014 season, but he recovered to make a single appearance in the 2014 Vodacom Cup, in a 14–23 defeat to the SWD Eagles in George.^[15] However, he lasted just 12 minutes of that match before sustaining a serious knee injury that ruled him out for over a year. He returned from the knee injury to play for Western Province in a friendly match against the Pumas prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division, but once again sustained a serious injury, on this occasion requiring an operating on both his shoulders, which ruled him out for the remainder of 2015.^[16][17]

References