Player Profiles: Breyton Paulse

Breyton Paulse

Despite his diminutive size, Breyten Paulse was one of South Africa’s most prolific wings in Springbok rugby history.

Paulse’s size (1.78m and 80 kg or 5’10” and 180lb) was a great concern for selectors, who thought he was too small to play at national level. But the firecracker from the Western Cape had a secret weapon - tremendous speed. A former SA Schools Athletics Champion in the 200m and 400m, his speed had the selectors take another look and the rest is, as they say, history.

Paulse launched his top flight career with a hat-trick of tries in his first Currie Cup match in 1996 and averaged a try in almost every match he started for Western Province.

In 1999, Paulse made his Springbok debut and in his very first appearance in the green and gold, he scored a hat-trick of tries against Italy in Port Elizabeth at the age of 23. Although Paulse played at wing for most of his career, he was predominantly playing fullback in 1997 and 1998.

Among his 64 caps counts Tours to Argentina, France and Wales in 1996; Italy, France, England and Scotland in 1997, the British Isles and Ireland in 1998 and Wales in 1999, the same year Paulse was selected to the Rugby World Cup for the first time. He also played for the squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Other Tours include Argentina, Ireland, Wales and England in 2000, France, Italy, England and USA in 2001, France, Scotland and England in 2002, the British Isles, Ireland in 2003 and Argentina in 2004.

At the time of his retirement from the national side, Paulse had put in 54 appearances for the Springboks and scored 22 tries. His last appearance in the green and gold was against New Zealand at Christchurch in 2007 at the age of 31.

Paulse, whose Springbok number was 647, scored 81 tries worth 405 points in his career, earned 64 Springbok caps and scored 24 tries for the national side worth 120 points. He was nominated as the SA Rugby Young Player of the Year in 1997 and SA Rugby Player of the Year in 1999, an award he won in 2000.

Since his retirement, Paulse has been a regular face at SuperSport, commentating in both English and Afrikaans. He also hosted the rugby show, Toks and Chops, with former Springbok Toks van der Linde, on Kyknet during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He also works for Cipla Pharmaceuticals, is involved with various charities and is a popular speaker at corporate events.

An accomplished golfer, Paulse plays off an eight handicap and showed his prowess on the fairways when he won the MTN SuperSport Shootout at Simola Golf Club earlier this year.