Louis Johannes Koen (born 7 July 1975 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South-African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, until 2003, when he moved abroad following the World Cup.
Effective at either fly half or full back, his career began with Western Province, before his move to the Lions and later the Bulls. He was part of the Western Province team that won the Currie Cup in 1997, contributing immensely with his accurate goal kicking. It was this dependable boot that led to his recall to the Springbok team in 2003 after a two-year absence, but following a difficult tournament and South Africa's disappointing exit in the quarter-finals, Koen was signed by Narbonne in France. After two years dogged by injury, Koen moved back to Western Province as only the second full-time kicking coach in South Africa. In 2010 he was recalled out of retirement to play one Currie Cup First Division match for the Boland Cavaliers against the Valke.
Career
Provincial
Lions (South Africa) – 28 caps
Western Province (South Africa) – 46 caps
Boland Cavaliers – 1 cap
Super Rugby
Stormers (South Africa) – 12 caps (86 points- 2 tries, 20 conversions, 11 penalty goals, 1 drop goal) Cats (South Africa) – 28 caps (330 points- 3 tries, 42 conversions, 74 penalty goals, 3 drop goals) Bulls (South Africa) – 11 caps (139 points- 17 conversions, 28 penalty goals, 7 drop goals)
Club
Stellenbosch
National team
He made his debut test match with the Springboks 8 July 2000 against the Australian Team.
He played four matches in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. During the game between South Africa and Samoa, as Koen prepared to take a conversion, a drunk rugby fan ran onto the field and attempted to tackle Koen, knocking himself out. Koen succeeded with the conversion.
Achievements
With the Springboks
(as of 31 December 2005) 15 caps 0 tries, 23 conversions, 31 penalties, 2 drops 145 points Selections per season : 1 in 2000, 3 in 2001, 11 in 2003. Participation at the World Cup 2003 (4 matches).
With club and province
Scored 577 points for Western Province (46 matches, 11 tries, 123 conversions, 92 penalty goals) (1996–99) Scored 391 points for Lions (28 matches, 5 tries, 87 conversions, 60 penalty goals, 4 drop goals) (2000–02) Scored 12 points for Boland Cavaliers (1 match, 3 conversions, 2 penalty goals) (2010)
Coaching
In February 2022, Koen, then the South African Rugby Union's high-performance manager, was appointed to assist Heyneke Meyer with the Houston SaberCats.
In March 2023, Koen was appointed interim coach of the South Africa women's national rugby union team.