Henri Boshoff

Born and bred in Nelspruit, which falls within the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, Boshoff was selected to represent their Pumas side at various youth levels. As early as primary school level, he was selected in their Under-13 side that played at the Craven Week in 2005. Three years later, he represented them at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and in 2010, he played for them in the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week held in Welkom.

After school, he made the move to Johannesburg to join the Golden Lions academy. He appeared in all fourteen of the Golden Lions U19s matches during the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting twelve of those, and also scored a try in their match against Gauteng rivals Blue Bulls.[3] They finished the regular season in second place on the log to qualify for the title play-offs; Boshoff started in both the 32–27 semi-final win against Western Province U19[4] and the final, where they won the title by beating the Blue Bulls U19s 20–19 in Johannesburg.[5]

Boshoff was included in the Golden Lions squad for the 2012 Vodacom Cup competition, but failed to make an appearance. In the second half of 2012, he played twice for the Golden Lions U21 side in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, as they reached the semi-finals of the competition.

He was once again included in their Vodacom Cup squad in 2013 and made his first class debut for them on 15 March 2013, starting in a 22–27 defeat to neighbours the Falcons in Kempton Park. Boshoff had an eventful debut; he took just 34 minutes to score his first senior try (putting them 12–7 up at the time), but also received a yellow card in the second half of the match.[6] He started one more match in the competition, a 19–30 defeat to the Griffons in Johannesburg.[7] He was included in UJ's squad for the 2013 Varsity Cup, but didn't appear in that competition. He made a further seven appearances for the Golden Lions U21 side during the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship; he scored one try for them early on in the campaign against the Sharks U21[8] as they once again reached the play-offs. For the second season in a row, Boshoff's side was eliminated in the semi-finals, this time losing 41–44 to Western Province after extra time,[9] in Boshoff last appearance in a Golden Lions shirt.

In 2014, Boshoff moved joined KwaZulu-Natal university side UKZN Impi for the 2014 Varsity Shield competition. He was their first-choice loosehead prop during the competition, playing in all nine of their matches during the competition. He contributed one try – a first-minute try against UWC in a Round Four match in Cape Town[10] – and helped them to finish second in the log to qualify for the final. He played in the final, but ended on the losing side, with CUT Ixias winning the match 35–26 to clinch their second consecutive title.[11]

He was once again included in the UKZN Impi squad for the 2015 Varsity Shield, but he failed to make any appearances, instead making the move to Wellington, Western Cape to join the Boland Cavaliers prior to the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition. He immediately established himself in the side, starting their first match of the season, a 10–25 defeat to Western Cape rivals Western Province in Caledon.[12]

After five appearances for Boland Cavaliers, Boshoff moved to Scotland, where he joined side Kelso.[13]