South African hooker Robbie Coetzee played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2022. He represented the Austin Gilgronis for his entire MLR career.

A native of Pretoria in South Africa, Robbie Coetzee developed in the Blue Bulls system and earned his provincial debut with the side in the Currie Cup in 2002. He played with the Blue Bulls until 2013 when he switched to the Golden Lions, earning his Super Rugby debut with the Lions in 2014. That same year, he was selected for the Springboks European Tour but withdrew due to injury. Coetzee played between the Lions in Super Rugby and Golden Lions in the Currie Cup between 2014-2020, earning over 50 Super Rugby appearances for the Lions and roughly the same in the Currie Cup.

In September of 2020, the newly rebranded Austin Gilgronis announced that they had signed Robbie Coetzee for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. He earned 5 starts in 8 games for the AGs in his debut season, scoring his first MLR try to help the Gilgronis record their first positive record as a franchise, going 9-7 but finishing just outside of the playoff spots. Coetzee returned for a second season with Austin in 2022 and once again earned 5 starts in 8 games, but had a much larger impact. He scored 3 more tries to take his MLR total to 4, and increased his metres gained from 81 in 2021 to 133 in 2022, and his tackles from 35 to an even 50. The AGs finished atop the Western Conference standings with a strong 12-4 record that season, but would be disqualified prior to the playoffs due to salary cap violations by team owner Adam Gilchrist. The Gilgronis would cease operations in the offseason, and Robbie Coetzee did not return to MLR.

Following his time in North America, Coetzee headed to the Netherlands and joined Rugby Club Eemland, as well as playing with the Dutch Rugby Europe Cup Franchise, Delta. He also served as Forwards Coach for the Dutch U20s team, helping them to a Rugby Europe U20s Championship in 2023.  In early 2024, Coetzee earned his international debut for the Netherlands in the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship (REC) and was a regular for the Oranje through to the end of the 2025 REC. Coetzee continued to play club rugby with RC Eemland until the end of the domestic season in May 2025, when he retired from playing. He now serves as Forwards Coach and Academy Head Coach with Haarlem RFC.

achievements

• MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 1