Ruben de Haas was born on October 9, 1998, in George, South Africa[2] as the son of Pieter de Haas and grandson of Gerard de Haas, both first class rugby players in South Africa.[3][4] De Haas immigrated with his family to the USA at the age of 10 and attended Jessieville High School in Arkansas[2] and played rugby for the Little Rock Junior Stormers, one of only two high school rugby teams in the state of Arkansas.[4]
Professional career
Cheetahs
After having represented the United States at age-grade level (see sections below), De Haas signed an academy contract with South African provincial union the Free State Cheetahs in July 2017.[5] He played for the Free State U19 side in the 2017 Under-19 Provincial Championship, and also played for university side the CUT Ixias in the 2018 Varsity Cup,[3] before making his first class debut in South African domestic competition, for the Free State XV in their 2018 Rugby Challenge match against the Griffons.[6]
In May 2018, the Free State Cheetahs announced that he signed a contract with the Cheetahs – the union's professional team – until the end of October 2020. In 2021 English Premiership giants Saracens signed De Haas on a 2 year deal where-after he returned for a second stint with the Cheetahs. [3]
Saracens
It was announced in February 2021 that De Haas would join Saracens ahead of the 2021–22 Premiership season and he made 23 appearances for the club.[7]
De Haas also made two appearances for the Junior All-Americans in 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy qualification matches. He scored one conversion in the Junior All-Americans' 46–12 defeat to Canada on June 13, 2017.[13] He also scored one conversion and one penalty goal in the Junior All-American's 27–25 victory over Canada on June 17, 2017.[14] De Haas served as the vice captain of the Junior All-Americans.[2]
USA Selects
De Haas made his first appearance with the USA Selects on October 7, 2017, starting at scrum-half in the Selects' 48–26 defeat to Samoa in the 2017 Americas Pacific Challenge.[15] De Haas scored his first try for the Selects on October 15, 2017, appearing as a substitute in the Selects' 45–26 victory over Canada.[16]
USA Eagles
De Haas made his debut with the USA Eagles 8 months after graduating from High School on February 17, 2018, appearing as a substitute in the Eagles' 45–13 victory over Chile in the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship.[17] De Haas played 4 matches for the U.S. at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
