The Most Famous

RUGBY PLAYERS from South Africa

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest South African Rugby Players. The pantheon dataset contains 35 Rugby Players, 19 of which were born in South Africa. This makes South Africa the birth place of the 2nd most number of Rugby Players.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary South African Rugby Players of all time. This list of famous South African Rugby Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of South African Rugby Players.

Photo of Francois Pienaar

1. Francois Pienaar (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 51.41, Francois Pienaar is the most famous South African Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Jacobus Francois Pienaar (born 2 January 1967) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa (the Springboks) from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After being dropped from the Springbok team in 1996, Pienaar went on to a career with English club Saracens.

Photo of Joost van der Westhuizen

2. Joost van der Westhuizen (1971 - 2017)

With an HPI of 44.10, Joost van der Westhuizen is the 2nd most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Joost van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the 1995 tournament, which was won by South Africa. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scrumhalves in the history of this sport. He captained the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations title in 1998. Domestically he played for the provincial side the Blue Bulls from 1993 to 2003, with whom he won two domestic Currie Cup trophies in 1998 and 2002, and from 1996 until his retirement in 2003 played Super 12 rugby for Northern Bulls (later renamed the Bulls). He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2007 and later into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. In 2011, it was announced that van der Westhuizen had motor neurone disease. He eventually began using a wheelchair and experienced speech problems, yet still raised awareness of the disease through his charity, the J9 Foundation.

Photo of Siya Kolisi

3. Siya Kolisi (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 42.35, Siya Kolisi is the 3rd most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Siyamthanda "Siya" Kolisi , (born 16 June 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team. Having formerly played for the Stormers and Racing 92, he currently plays for Sharks in the URC. He generally plays as a flanker and a loose forward. In 2018, Kolisi was appointed captain of the Springboks, becoming the first black man to hold the position and eventually leading the South African Rugby team to victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final against England, and again in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final against New Zealand. In December 2019, Kolisi was named in New African magazine's list of 100 Most Influential Africans. In April 2023, Kolisi was bestowed the National Order of Ikhamanga by the South African Government for his contributions to rugby. In October 2023, Siya Kolisi captained South Africa to a historic fourth Rugby World Cup in Paris, France, and became only the second captain to win the title back-to-back. Kolisi is one of 45 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions and one of 25 South Africans to do so.

Photo of Chester Williams

4. Chester Williams (1970 - 2019)

With an HPI of 41.34, Chester Williams is the 4th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa. He was the only non-white player on the team. During the tournament he scored four tries for South Africa in its quarter-final match and also appeared in the semi-final and final. Domestically he played rugby for the Western Province in the Currie Cup. After retiring, Williams pursued a career in coaching, including a spell with the South Africa national rugby sevens team, the Uganda national rugby union team, and the University of the Western Cape. He was portrayed by McNeil Hendricks in the 2009 Clint Eastwood film Invictus, a biographical sports drama film about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and he also helped to coach Matt Damon and other actors for the rugby scenes used in the film. Williams died from a suspected heart attack on 6 September 2019 at the age of 49.

Photo of Bryan Habana

5. Bryan Habana (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 40.53, Bryan Habana is the 5th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the Golden Lions, the Blue Bulls and Western Province in South Africa, for the Bulls and the Stormers in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team. Habana was part of the South Africa team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was one of the stars of the tournament, his eight tries equalling the record for a single tournament set by Jonah Lomu in 1999. He was subsequently named the 2007 IRB Player of the Year. During the 2015 Rugby World Cup Habana equalled Lomu's career record of 15 tries in World Cups. He is in second place among all time test try scorers, with 67 tries.

Photo of Faf de Klerk

6. Faf de Klerk (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 40.01, Faf de Klerk is the 6th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

François de Klerk (born 19 October 1991), known by his nickname Faf, is a South African professional rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Japan Rugby League One club Yokohama Canon Eagles and the South Africa national team. He was a member of the South Africa teams that won the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and 2023.

Photo of Cheslin Kolbe

7. Cheslin Kolbe (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 38.64, Cheslin Kolbe is the 7th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Cheslin Kolbe (born 28 October 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for Tokyo Sungoliath in the Japan Rugby League One and the South Africa national team. His regular position is wing, but he also plays at fullback. He has also recently featured at fly half for Toulouse in the Top 14, and as a scrum half internationally. Kolbe was a member of the South Africa Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He has won the Rugby World Cup twice with South Africa, in 2019 and 2023. Kolbe was nominated for 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year but lost to teammate Pieter-Steph du Toit. He previously played for Toulouse, Toulon, Stormers, and Western Province. He has also won the Rugby Championship and the Lions Series with the Springboks, the Top14 and Champions Cup with Toulouse, the Currie Cup with Western Province, and the Challenge Cup with Toulon. He is one of the highest paid rugby players in the world, with a reported salary of between ¥130–155 million yen per season. Since making his debut for South Africa in 2018 in a 23–18 loss to Australia, he has scored 20 tries in 44 tests for South Africa, as well as 1 try in a non-test match. Kolbe is known for his defensive capabilities despite his diminutive frame, his speed and stepping ability, as well as his power in contact.

Photo of Eben Etzebeth

8. Eben Etzebeth (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 38.51, Eben Etzebeth is the 8th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Eben Etzebeth (born 29 October 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and the South Africa national team. He made his international debut for the Springboks in 2012 and has since won over 130 caps, making him the Springboks' most capped player. His regular playing position is as a tighthead lock (number 4).

Photo of Schalk Burger

9. Schalk Burger (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 35.40, Schalk Burger is the 9th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. (born 13 April 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a flanker for Saracens in the English Premiership and won 86 caps for South Africa. He was a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning team, was twice named South African Rugby Player of the Year (in 2004 and 2011), and was named IRB Player of the Year in 2004, among other accolades. He also holds the record for the most appearances (84) and most tries scored (13) by a Springbok flanker. However, Burger's physical approach also resulted in him being shown a yellow card six times in international rugby, second only to Italy's Marco Bortolami (7 times) as of June 2014. Burger also suffered injuries, especially to his neck and knee, which sidelined him for considerable periods at a time. He also played four times for the Barbarians.

Photo of John Smit

10. John Smit (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 34.66, John Smit is the 10th most famous South African Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

John William Smit, OIS, (born 3 April 1978) is a South African former professional rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the Springbok rugby union team and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played most of his senior career as a hooker, but also won 13 caps as a prop, where he had also played for South Africa's under-21 team. He retired from international rugby following the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the most-capped South African player ever, with 111 appearances. Smit was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011 (while still active at club level), alongside all other World Cup-winning captains and head coaches from the tournament's inception in 1987 through 2007 (minus the previously inducted John Eales).

People

Pantheon has 25 people classified as South African rugby players born between 1967 and 1999. Of these 25, 23 (92.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living South African rugby players include Francois Pienaar, Siya Kolisi, and Bryan Habana. The most famous deceased South African rugby players include Joost van der Westhuizen, and Chester Williams. As of April 2024, 6 new South African rugby players have been added to Pantheon including Chester Williams, Faf de Klerk, and John Smit.

Living South African Rugby Players

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Deceased South African Rugby Players

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Newly Added South African Rugby Players (2025)

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous