Haashim Pead is a South African rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup. Pead was a part of the South African team that won the 2025 World Rugby U20 championship, where he made his breakthrough and was named player of the tournament.[1]
Pead began playing rugby for the local Bo-Kaap team Schotsche Kloof Walmers RFC after growing up watching his father play.[2] He matriculated from Bishops[3] and represented the Western Province at the 2023 Craven Week,[4] where he scored 2 tries and the WP team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.[5]
After his performance at the 2025 World Rugby U20 championship he was included in the Golden Lions squad for the 2025 Currie Cup[6]
Pead would make his debut coming off the bench for the South Africa U20s in a 24–19 loss to Australia in the 2024 U20 Rugby Championship.[7] The following season he would make his first start and he scored two tries against Argentina in the 2025 U20 Rugby Championship.
Pead was then included in the squad for the 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy, where he would make his break through. He scored 6 tries across 5 games, the second most in the tournament, and broke the record for most metres gained by a scrum-half in the group stages of the World Rugby U20 Championship (232m) that had previously been set by Antoine Dupont in 2016.[8] After impressing at the tournament he was invited to train with the Springboks.[9]
