Justin Basson

Justin Johan Basson (born 10 February 1994) is a South African rugby union player for the in the United Rugby Championship. He also plays for the Rugby ATL in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the U.S. His regular position is lock.

Career

Blue Bulls

Basson was born in Cape Town. After high school, he joined the Blue Bulls Academy prior to the 2013 season. He was one of the first-choice locks for the side during the 2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship; after two appearances off the bench in their first two matches of the season, he started every other match, helping the Blue Bulls finish top of the log to qualify for the title play-offs. He started their 37–21 semi-final victory against the and also the final, in which the Blue Bulls finished the season as champions after beating Gauteng rivals 35–23 in Durban.

He was named in a 74-man South Africa Under-20 training squad named in February 2014. However, he did not make the final squad that participated at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand.

Free State Cheetahs

After just one season in Pretoria, Basson moved to Bloemfontein to join the . He started the season playing rugby for the , scoring a try in the final of the 2014 Varsity Cup Young Guns competition to help them win the competition for the first time.

He started nine of the side's thirteen matches during the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship and played off the bench on one occasion. He scored one of his side's eighteen tries in a 118–6 demolition of in his second match at this level and scored another in a 43–21 victory over the later in the season to help his side finish in fourth spot and clinch a title play-off spot. He didn't feature in the semi-finals as his side lost 17–41 to .

He was included in a that participated in the 2015 Vodacom Cup. He made his first class debut by starting their second match of the season against in a 52–15 victory.