Tiaan Dorfling

Tiaan Arno Dorfling (born 26 July 1990 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played for Griquas.[1] His regular position is scrum-half.

Tiaan Dorfling
Full nameTiaan Arno Dorfling
Date of birth (1990-07-26) 26 July 1990
Place of birthPort Elizabeth, South Africa
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight82 kg (12 st 13 lb; 181 lb)
SchoolHoërskool Framesby, Port Elizabeth
UniversityNorth-West University, Potchefstroom
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half
Youth career
2006–2008 Eastern Province Kings
2009–2011 Leopards
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011–2014 NWU Pukke 30 (81)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–2015 Leopards 15 (7)
2013 Leopards XV 4 (0)
2016–2017 Griquas 16 (30)
Correct as of 19 May 2018
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008 South Africa Schools Academy 1 (4)
Correct as of 16 November 2015

Career

Youth

Dorfling attended Hoërskool Framesby in Port Elizabeth and earned an inclusion in several Eastern Province youth representative teams; he played for their Under-16 team at the 2006 Grant Khomo Week in Wellington and for their Under-18 side at the 2007 Academy Week held in Pietersburg and the 2008 Academy Week held in George. After the latter tournament, he was also included in a South African Schools Academy side that played against the main South African Schools side in Durban. Dorfling started the match in the fly-half position and kicked two conversions in a 41–19 victory.[2]

Leopards / NWU Pukke

After high school, Dorfling moved to Potchefstroom, where he joined the Leopards. Despite still being eligible to play at Under-19 level, he scored 17 points in eight appearances for a Leopards U21 side that finished bottom of the 2009 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A log. However, he helped them remain in Group A after they beat Griquas U21 38–27 in a relegation play-off.[3]

He started ten of the Leopards U21s' matches in the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A, scoring six tries, including a hat-trick in their 36–16 victory over the Golden Lions in their opening match in the competition.[4] Dorfling also made his first class and Currie Cup debut in the same season; he came on started their 20–29 defeat to Griquas in Kimberley in the 2010 Currie Cup Premier Division[5] and also started their 26–39 defeat to the Blue Bulls a week later.[6]

At the start of 2011, Dorfling represented NWU Pukke in the Varsity Cup competition. He made six appearances and scored three tries – two of those in a 48–0 victory over the TUT Vikings[7] – for his side, that finished in sixth place on the log, missing out on the play-offs. He then played in the Under-21 Provincial Championship for a third consecutive season, making seven appearances for the Leopards U21 team that finished in sixth place in that competition, but failed to play any first class rugby in 2011.

After starting all eight of the NWU Pukke's matches in the 2012 Varsity Cup – scoring 28 points as his side reached the semi-final, where they lost to UP Tuks[8] – he played in a single match in the 2012 Currie Cup First Division, coming on as a replacement in their 27–50 semi-final defeat to his hometown team and eventual champions, the Eastern Province Kings.[9]

After seven appearances for the NWU Pukke in the 2013 Varsity Cup – with the side missing out on the play-offs by virtue of finishing fifth – Dorfling made his first appearances for the Leopards XV in the Vodacom Cup competition. He started two matches and came on as a replacement in a further two, but again missed out on the play-offs as they finished fifth. He made one start and eight appearances off the bench for the Leopards during the 2013 Currie Cup First Division to help them finish third and to qualify – as they did in 2012 – for a semi-final fixture against the Eastern Province Kings. The match finished 22–all after the regulation 80 minutes to go to extra time. Despite Dorfling scoring his first senior try in the 98th minute of the match, he again ended on the losing side, with the side from Port Elizabeth running out 32–29 winners.[10]

Dorfling started all nine of the NWU Pukke's matches in the 2014 Varsity Cup; he helped them top the log after winning six of their seven regular season matches, and to reach their first final since 2009 by beating the NMMU Madibaz 19–18 in the semi-final.[11] He kicked one conversion in the final against the UCT Ikey Tigers in Potchefstroom, but it wasn't enough as the visitors clinched the title in dramatic fashion as they fought back from 33–15 down with five minutes to go to achieve a 39–33 victory to win the competition for the second time.[12]

He didn't play first class rugby in 2014 and was also too old to play Varsity Cup rugby in 2015. However, he did make a brief appearance for the Leopards during the 2015 Currie Cup First Division season; he came on as a replacement in their matches against the Griffons,[13] Border Bulldogs[14] and Falcons,[15] scoring one conversion in the first of those three matches, in a season that saw the Leopards go through the competition with a 100% record, winning all 12 of their matches en route to winning the title for the first time, beating the SWD Eagles 44–20 in the final.[16]

Griquas

He joined Kimberley-based side Griquas for the 2016 season.[17]

References
  1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Tiaan Dorfling". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. "SA Rugby Match Centre – SA Schools 19-41 SA Schools Academy". South African Rugby Union. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 38-27 Griquas". South African Rugby Union. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 36-16 Xerox Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – GWK Griquas 29-20 Platinum Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Platinum Leopards 26-39 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – TUT 0-48 NWU-Pukke". South African Rugby Union. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Tuks 53-24 Pukke". South African Rugby Union. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province Kings 50-27 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  10. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province Kings 32-29 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB NWU-PUKKE 19-18 FNB NMMU". South African Rugby Union. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB NWU-PUKKE 33-39 FNB UCT 1ST XV". South African Rugby Union. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 64-34 Down Touch Griffons". South African Rugby Union. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 32-30 Border". South African Rugby Union. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  15. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Hino Valke 29-36 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  16. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 44-20 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  17. "VS o.21-losskakel beskikbaar vir Griekwas". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 27 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
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