Rugby United New York re-signed Hanco Germishuys for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 23-year-old back-row (24 in August) is 6’2″, and 230 lbs.
Hanco joined RUNY before week three in 2020 and placed one match as a reserve before starting the final two matches of the truncated season.
Hanco played 301 minutes in five matches for the Raptors in 2019. He carried 69 times for 525 meters, made 54 tackles, and had 3 lineout takes with one steal. He also had 2 linebreaks, 8 tackle breaks, and made 2 offloads.
Hanco was born in Kimberly, Northern Cape, South Africa, and attended Newton School. He began playing rugby at a young age and moved to Omaha, Nebraska with his father in 2004. There he attended Westside High School.
Hanco progressed rapidly through the USA Rugby age-grade pathway. He was captain of the Under-18s for Team USA at the Youth Olympics, played for the Under-18s since age 14 for four consecutive years, and the Under-20s in both 2015 and 2016. He was a four-year high school Aall-American.
During the 2014-15 season, he attended Gloucester Academy, played for four weeks in 2015 with the Sharks Academy and spent the 2015-16 season with the Glendale Raptors in winning the Pacific Rugby Premiership Championship.
In 2016 he played for the Denver Stampede, making nine appearances and scoring six tries. In 2017, it was on to the Austin Huns, where the team won the USA Club Rugby Division 1 National Championship. In 2018 he played with Austin Elite Rugby in the inaugural Major League Rugby season. He made five appearances due to his National team commitment while scoring six tries.
Hanco also played in the Americas Pacific Challenge in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for the USA Selects. He also played in the 2019 Pacific Nations Cup. On February 27, 2016, he made his debut for the Eagles (No. 489) against Brazil and his last match was on October 13, 2019, against Tonga at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He has 21 caps, started 16 times, and has scored 9 tries.
During 2019, Hanco returned to Glendale and in 2020 will be with Rugby United New York.
Rugby United New York Comments
“We’re so happy to have a player of Hanco’s quality joining RUNY,” shared Head Coach Greg McWilliams. “His attitude, on and off the field, is exactly what we’re looking for in our clubhouse. I am looking forward to seeing the impact he can make. He’s a player that you could build your squad around.”
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