EW Viljoen (born 9 May 1995 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player playing for the Johannesburg based Lions. He previously played for the StormersinSuper Rugby and Western Province in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge, while also representing the Leicester Tigers. It was announced on the 14th of July 2020 that Viljoen would be joining the Lions.[1] He is a utility back that can play as a fullback, winger or centre.
Viljoen was noticed at primary school level, when he was selected in the Free State squad for the Under-13 Craven Week tournament in 2008. He then went to Grey CollegeinBloemfontein, where he was called up to a number of youth tournaments. He played at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2011, where he scored 18 points in two matches against Western Province[2] and the Falcons.[3]
In 2012, he was included in the Free State's Under-18 Craven Week squad, scoring a try against KwaZulu-Natal[4] and he played in the competition again in 2013, this time contributing a brace in their match against the Pumas.[5]
This led to Viljoen's inclusion in the South African Schools side for the 2013 international series, where he started two matches to help the South African side to victories over England[6] and France.[7]
He was included in the senior squad for the first time for the final match of the round-robin stage of the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division, being named in the starting line-up for their match against the Sharks.[11]
He wasn't named in the squad for their 33–5 win against hosts Italy in the first of their three matches in Pool B of the competition[18] and was an unused replacement in their next match, a 40–8 win against Samoa.[19] He started their final match, a 46–13 win over Australia[20] to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Viljoen started their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession[21] and also started their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.[22]
