Hanno Dirksen

Who is Hanno Dirksen?

Hanno Dirksen is a South African rugby union player currently playing for Ospreys. He was a regular member of the squad during the 2011–12 Pro 12 winning season, and earned the award of try of the season for his score against Edinburgh in February 2012. Dirksen grew up in the United States in Nashville, Tennessee, where he attended Lassiter High School, and played for the USA U17 and U18 national rugby union teams.

Dirksen came to the UK on a student visa in 2008 to study at Truro College, before transferring to Neath Port Talbot College in 2009. During his time at Truro College he played regularly for St Ives RFC and became a scoring machine, with St Ives lifting the County cup. Because of his student visa, he played as an amateur at Swansea RFC and Ospreys until he signed a professional contract with the Ospreys in January 2011.

He made his debut for Ospreys in November 2009 against Bath Rugby and scored his first try for the region in February 2010 against Leeds Carnegie in his only other appearance in the 2009–10 season. Dirksen featured for Ospreys 5 times during the 2010–11 season, scoring once. During the 2011–12 season Dirksen scored 8 tries for Ospreys in 24 matches.