Wayne van der Bank

Nationality
rsaSouth Africa
Position
Centre
Height
6'0
Weight
195lbs
Current Team
Free Jacks

South African centre Wayne van der Bank played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2025. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

Hailing from Pretoria, van der Bank started his rugby career with the Golden Lions XV in the Rugby Challenge between 2017-2019, and moving to the Currie Cup side later in 2019 before moving to play with the Pumas between 2020-2021.

Van der Bank joined the New England Free Jacks ahead of their 2022 season, scoring 3 tries in 16 games (14 starts) and gaining exactly 1,000m with ball in hand in his debut season in North America. He has played with the New England Free Jacks for 3 seasons in total including their Shield-Winning 2023 season. He’s earned 40 MLR appearances and scored 15 tries in MLR, 10 of which came in his standout 2024 season where he finished T-5th in MLR Try scoring and gained a PB of 1,068m and was named as Free Jacks Player’s Player of the Year, Free Jacks Player of the Year, and 1st Regiment Player of the Year (awarded by Free Jacks fans). Van der Bank also finished 6th in MLR tackling with 187 completed in 2024. That season, the Free Jacks successfully defended their title by defeating the Seattle Seawolves in San Diego by a score of 11-20 to earn back-to-back MLR titles, a game in which van der Bank started. The MLR also recognized van der Bank’s extraordinary 2024 season, selecting him for the All-MLR First XV and as the deserving winner of MLR Player of the Year for 2024.

On October 29th, 2024, the New England Free Jacks announced that van der Bank would return for the 2025 season.

achievements

Major League Rugby

SeasonTeamGPGSTCPACDGMGTacklesKS/KAPts
MLR 2022Free Jacks1614300101000168017
MLR 2023Free Jacks101020000640113010
MLR 2024Free Jacks17161000101333187052
MLR 2025Free Jacks00000000000
Total-43401500202973468079