JT Jackson

John Thomas Jackson (born 10 July 1996) is a South African rugby union player for the Southern Kings in the Pro14.[1] His usually plays as either an inside or outside centre, but he has also occasionally played fly-half in the past.

JT Jackson
Full nameJohn Thomas Jackson
Date of birth (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996
Place of birthCalvinia, South Africa
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb; 220 lb)
SchoolHoër Landbouskool Oakdale, Riversdal
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre / Fly-half
Current team Southern Kings
Youth career
2009–2014 SWD Eagles
2015–2017 Blue Bulls
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 UP Tuks 7 (15)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–2019 Blue Bulls XV 18 (62)
2017–2018 Blue Bulls 16 (17)
2018–2019 Bulls 3 (0)
Correct as of 11 July 2019
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014 South Africa Schools 3 (10)
2015–2016 South Africa Under-20 7 (5)
Correct as of 13 April 2018

Rugby career

2009–2014 : Schoolboy rugby / SWD

Jackson was born in Calvinia, but grew up in Riversdal in the Western Cape, representing the SWD Eagles at various youth levels. He earned a provincial selection as early as primary school level, when he played as a fly-half at the Under-13 Craven Week held in Kimberley in 2009.[2] He was the top scorer for SWD at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2012, scoring a try, seven conversions and three penalties for a total of 28 points in his three starts,[3] at the Under-18 Academy Week in 2013, when he scored 20 points through four conversions and four penalties,[4] and at the Under-18 Craven Week in 2014, scoring two tries, six conversions and two penalties for another 28-points haul.[5]

At the conclusion of the 2014 Craven Week, he was also named in a South Africa Schools team hosted three matches in an Under-18 International Series. Jackson started all three matches; after featuring in a 28–13 victory over France,[6] he scored one try in each of their matches against Wales[7] and England.[8]

2015 : Blue Bulls, Tuks and South Africa Under-20

After school, Jackson relocated to Pretoria, where he was amongst the Blue Bulls Academy intake prior to the 2015 season.[9] He joined the UP Tuks rugby team – the Pretoria-based university side affiliated to the Blue Bulls Academy – for their 2015 Varsity Cup campaign. After playing off the bench in two matches, Jackson established himself in the starting line-up for the remaining five matches of the season. He scored tries in their matches against CUT Ixias,[10] UJ[11] and in their semi-final defeat to NWU Pukke.[12]

He was named in a 37-man training squad for the South Africa national under-20 rugby union team[13] and started for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015.[14] He was then included in the squad that embarked on a two-match tour of Argentina.[15] He started both of their matches against Argentina helping them to a 25–22 victory in the first match[16] and a 39–28 victory in the second match four days later.[17] Upon the team's return to South Africa, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[18] He started their 33–5 win against hosts Italy[19] and their 40–8 win against Samoa[20] in their first two pool matches. However, he dropped out of the squad for their 46–13 win over Australia in the final pool match[21] and also didn't feature in their 20–28 loss to England in the semi-final[22] or their third-place play-off match against France, where South Africa achieved a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.[23]

Jackson returned to domestic action in South Africa, appearing in all fourteen of the Blue Bulls U19' matches in the Group A of the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship.[24] While Tinus de Beer was the main goal-kicker for the team, Jackson also contributed 50 points with the boot during the competition, in addition to scoring tries against Golden Lions U19,[25] Free State U19 (first in an away match[26] and then in the return leg at home),[27] Western Province U19[28] and the Sharks U19[29] during the regular season, as well as in their semi-final match against Western Province in a 30–29 victory.[30] Jackson also played in the final, but could not help his side to winning the championship, with Eastern Province U19 winning 25–23 in Johannesburg.[31]

2016 : Blue Bulls and South Africa Under-20

In March 2016, Jackson was again included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad,[32] also making the cut for a reduced provisional squad named a week later.[33]

In between training with the team, he returned to the Blue Bulls to make two appearances for them in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series; he made his domestic first class debut by starting in a 20–17 victory over a Free State XV[34] and also started their 17–38 defeat to Gauteng rivals the Golden Lions XV a week later.[35]

On 10 May 2016, he was included in the final South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament to be held in Manchester, England.[36] He started their opening match in Pool C of the tournament as South Africa came from behind to beat Japan 59–19,[37] and played off the bench in their next pool match as South Africa were beaten 13–19 by Argentina.[38] He was restored to the starting line-up for their final pool match, as South Africa bounced back from their defeat to secure a 40-31 bonus-point victory over France[39] to secure a semi-final place as the best runner-up in the competition. He started the semi-final, as South Africa faced three-time champions England. The hosts proving too strong for South Africa, knocking them out of the competition with a 39–17 victory.[40] Jackson also started against Argentina in the third-place play-off match, but suffered their second defeat to Argentina in the tournament, convincingly being beaten 49–19[41] to finish in fourth place in the competition.

He made one further start for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup qualification series after returning to domestic action, starting in a 95–12 win over Namibian invitational side the Welwitschias.[42]

He was then named in their squad for the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.[43]

References
  1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – JT Jackson". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. "SA Rugby Squad – SWD : 2009 U13 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  3. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2012 U16 Grant Khomo Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  4. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2013 U18 Academy Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  5. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2014 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – SA Schools 28-13 France U18". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – SA Schools 40-15 Wales U18". South African Rugby Union. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – SA Schools 22-30 England U18". South African Rugby Union. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  9. "Under 19s welcomed to the Vodacom Blue Bulls family" (Press release). Blue Bulls. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  10. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UP - TUKS 63-8 FNB CUT". South African Rugby Union. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UJ 0-34 FNB UP - TUKS". South African Rugby Union. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UP - TUKS 28-29 FNB NWU-PUKKE". South African Rugby Union. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  13. "Junior Bok training squad confirmed". South African Rugby Union. 4 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Varsity Cup XV 24-31 South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. "SARU names Junior Bok squad for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  16. "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 25 a 22". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  17. "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 39 a 28". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  18. "Liebenberg to lead Junior Boks at U20 World Champs". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  19. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Italy U20 5-33 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  20. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40-8 Samoa U20". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  21. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 46-13 Australia U20". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  22. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 20-28 England U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – France U20 18-31 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  24. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2015 Absa Under 19 Competition". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  25. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Golden Lions U19 15-31 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  26. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U19 24-42 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  27. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 57-21 Free State U19". South African Rugby Union. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  28. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U19 53-20 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  29. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Sharks U19 20-31 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  30. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 30-29 Western Province U19". South African Rugby Union. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  31. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 25-23 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  32. "Large group invited to Junior Springbok trials camp". South African Rugby Union. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  33. "Theron names provisional Junior Springbok squad". South African Rugby Union. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  34. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 20-17 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  35. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions XV 38-17 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  36. "Ward to lead Junior Springboks in England". South African Rugby Union. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  37. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 59-19 Japan U20". South African Rugby Union. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  38. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 13-19 Argentina U20". South African Rugby Union. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  39. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40-31 France U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  40. "SA Rugby Match Centre – England U20 39-17 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  41. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Argentina U20 49-19 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  42. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 95-12 Windhoek Draught Welwitschias". South African Rugby Union. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  43. "SA Rugby Squad – Vodacom Blue Bulls : 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
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