South African lock Rhyno Herbst played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2026. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

A Gauteng native, Rhyno Herbst played rugby through high school in Roodepoort, and played age-grade rugby with the Golden Lions between 2012-2017. In 2016, while playing for the Lions U21s, he was also a member of the Junior Boks Training Squad. In 2017 he got a chance with the Golden Lions Currie Cup side, and in 2018 he progressed to the Lions Super Rugby side, playing between the Super Rugby and Currie Cup sides until 2020.

Herbst travelled stateside ahead of the 2021 MLR season, signing with the Seattle Seawolves. He has represented the Seawolves for 4 MLR seasons, scoring 5 tries in 58 appearances (57 starts) for Seattle, earning his 50th MLR cap on May 11th, 2024. Across those 4 MLR seasons, Herbst has racked up over 1,700m gained in possession and has completed exactly 500 tackles, including a high of 165 in 2024. He has featured for the Seawolves in two MLR Championship games, in 2022 (a 30-15 defeat to Rugby New York) and again in 2024 (a 11-20 defeat to the New England Free Jacks), and his 2024 performances earned him an All-MLR First XV selection. On January 14th, 2025, the Rhyno Herbst was included on the Seattle Seawolves’ full roster for the 2025 season, marking his 5th season for the team. During the 2025 season, Herbst started all 15 of his appearances for the Seawolves to take his career total to 72 starts in 73 games. He added a 6th career try with over 150m gained and recorded his 4th 100+ tackles season, with 143 completed to take his career totals to 1,861m gained and 643 tackles made through the 2025 season.

On 6th January, 2026, the Seattle Seawolves confirmed that Rhyno Herbst would return for his 6th season with the team in 2026.

achievements

• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 14
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 1
• 2024 MLR Runner-Up: Seattle Seawolves
• 2024 All-MLR First XV Selection: Seattle Seawolves
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 17
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 8
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5
• 2022 MLR Runner-Up: Seattle Seawolves