| Born | (1980-08-05)5 August 1980 (age 45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 125 kg (19 st 10 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative | Piet Malan (grandfather)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ernst Joubert (born 5 August 1980) is a South African former rugby union player. He played atNumber Eight forSaracens in theAviva Premiership from 2009 to 2015 and was the vice captain of the team. He retired from all rugby at the end of November 2015.
Joubert started his career playing forWestern Province, being included in the squads for the2002 Vodacom Cup andCurrie Cup competitions.[3] However, he failed to break into the localSuper Rugby side, theStormers and, after seven appearances in the2003 Vodacom Shield competition, he joined near neighboursBoland Cavaliers for the2003 Currie Cup qualifying rounds.
He moved toJohannesburg to join theGolden Lions prior to the 2004 season.[4] However, several injuries prevented him from making his debut for them until the2005 Currie Cup competition,[5] starting their match against theMighty Elephants.[6]
He made hisSuper Rugby debut for theCats in 2006 by starting their opening match of the2006 Super 14 season against theStormers.[7] He made close to 50 appearances for the franchise (called theCats in 2006 and theLions since then) over the next four seasons. He also regularly featured for theGolden Lions domestically in theCurrie Cup competition and a few appearances in the2009 Vodacom Cup competition.
Joubert left South Africa to join EnglishPremiership side Saracens in 2009.[8]
He made his debut on 5 September 2009 againstLondon Irish in theLondon Double Header which finished 18–14 to Saracens. He played the whole match but got a yellow card. Joubert turned out to be a mainstay in the Saracens team with 34 appearances and 10 tries. When the usual Saracens captainSteve Borthwick was injured, Joubert took over the captain's duties for the last two months of the season that included the narrow 33–27 defeat toLeicester Tigers in the 2010 Guinness Premiership Final. In this game, Joubert scored both of the Saracens tries to help Saracens narrowly miss out on victory. Joubert was one of the stars of the Saracens team and was rewarded with a place in the 2010 Guinness Premiership Dream Team with the likes ofChris Ashton andSchalk Brits.
Joubert started the 2010–2011Aviva Premiership season with being named as the vice captain of the Saracens team. He again started most of the team's games in which was a greatly successful season. Ernst was rewarded for his outstanding performances in the season by being named as the Aviva Premiership Player of the Month for February, also his consistent performances earned him a place in the Sky Sports Aviva Premiership Dream Team 2011. Overall he made 30 appearances and scored three tries in helping the Saracens to win the 2011Aviva Premiership with a 22-18 win overLeicester Tigers.[9]
This was Joubert's third season as aSaracens player and he started the season in his usual role as a first team regular. He played 26 games forSaracens in helping them to third place in the league. During the season he scored seven tries for Saracens as they lost in the semi-final toLeicester Tigers.
Joubert began his fourth season for Saracens in 2012 and made his 100th appearance for the club in the 15-9 defeat toMunster in theHeineken Cup.[10] Joubert also started for Saracens in their firstAviva Premiership match at their new stadium,Allianz Park, in a 31-11 victory overExeter Chiefs. During the season, Ernst made a total of 26 appearances for the club, scoring one try. Ernst helped Saracens to the semi-finals of theAviva Premiership,Heineken Cup andLV Cup where the Saracens team lost in all 3 toNorthampton Saints,Toulon andSale Sharks respectively.
This was Joubert's fifth season playing for Saracens where he continued as the club's vice captain. Despite added competition from the signing of England number 8Billy Vunipola, Joubert continued to be a regular starter for Saracens, making 21 appearances in the season and scoring 1 try. His appearances have helped his club to the semi-final of the LV Cup where they lost toNorthampton Saints and to the finals of theHeineken Cup and theAviva Premiership playing againstToulon andNorthampton Saints respectively. Unfortunately Joubert was injured in the Heineken Cup quarter final againstUlster Rugby[11] which meant that he missed the whole of the end of the season including both finals.
Joubert retired from all rugby at the end of Saracens' game againstWorcester Warriors at Twickenham on 28 November 2015.[12] Following that he immediately moved back to South Africa.