Still only 27 USA scrumhalf Ruben de Haas is coming off his best run of rugby the last few months and closing in on a couple of milestones.
He is within a few caps of getting to 50, a number that is usually reached by an Eagle at or near the end of his career. De Haas, for his part, is in his prime. Once he gets to 50, de Haas will be only four test matches from the most caps by a USA scrumhalf—Mike Petri's 54 caps are the standard right now.
Born in South Africa but raised in Arkansas after his family moved there (his father, Pieter, played provincial rugby in South Africa), de Haas has been on the USA radar since he was in high school.
"I remember playing in Little Rock and [GRR] ranked us and we were so excited!" de Haas told GRR. "But those earlier opportunities were really important. Touring with Salty Thompson and EIRA—Coach Salty got me into the system. And then playing for the Under 20s with JD Stephenson. Even just starting out in Arkansas and playing there. It's been an amazing journey."
The journey has taken de Haas all over, including the Free State Cheetahs in South Africa and Saracens in England. The last several years he has been playing in the MLR and was the starting scrumhalf for the undefeated Chicago Hounds.
Right now, as of this writing, he is taking a week off after a long period of non-stop rugby, as are the other Eagle players. He has gone from Eagle camp in February to MLR preseason to a 10-match season and the playoffs with the Hounds. After that, the National Team played three matches.
"Compared to the guys playing in Europe we can be grateful that it's not too much," de Haas said. "But we had all of those games on the bounce and then straight into Eagles stuff."
And the thing is, de Haas and his teammates have won all 15 of those matches, 10 MLR regular-season games, semifinals and final, and three Nations Cup test matches.
Winning can become a habit.
"With the Hounds, we were clear on how we wanted to play and everyone bought into it," de Haas explained. "We have very good coaching and team-wise we were close. There is a genuine love and care for everyone in that building."
That's certainly a factor that makes a winning team, but it also helps when players are playing well, and de Haas is playing well. He is quick quick-witted, accurate with his passing and with his kicking, and just looks very comfortable around the game.
True to his nature, he's not one to sling; if he's playing well he will be humble about it, but he won't pretend he's not.
