South African lock Rhyno Herbst played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2024. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

Herbst, a Gauteng native, 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.

achievements

• 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