Veteran fullback Joe Pietersen continues to perform at a high level on the rugby field while saving rhinos through his non-profit organisation.

Pietersen has played for eight teams in four countries and over three continents, making more than 200 appearances during an 18-year-career.

Even now, at 38, he continues to deliver at the San Diego Legion in the USA’s Major League Rugby. In 2022, Pietersen was the third-highest point-scorer in the tournament with 146 as San Diego reached the quarter-finals.

Pietersen began his career at Western Province and the Stormers, where made his name as a utility back with an unflinchingly accurate boot during a special era of players in the Cape region.

Two stints in the Western Cape were interrupted by a move to French outfit Bayonne, before he left the Stormers permanently in 2013 to return to France with Biarritz.

From there, Pietersen became something of a journeyman, playing for the Cheetahs (2015), Sharks (2015-16) and Japanese side the Kamaishi Seawaves (2016-18) before San Diego came knocking for the inaugural MLR season in 2018.

Now, Pietersen will be devoting the rest of 2022 to his other love – wildlife conservation of endangered species in South Africa – while he considers whether or not to continue his pro rugby career.

Having started Nkombe Rhino, a non-profit organisation in 2015 focused specifically on rhino conservation, Pietersen had the benefit of transitioning away from the game while playing.

‘Rugby opens that first door. That’s why I say that I owe so much to rugby … being silly enough to start my own non-profit organisation, without knowing much, and then building up some intellectual property along the way from learning from other people,’ he told SA Rugby magazine.

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