[1] Born in the South African city of East London, Goosen moved to New Zealand along with his family at the age of 4, initially settling in Auckland, where he attended primary school, before moving south to the nation's capital, Wellington where he attended high school at Wellington College.
After graduating from high school, he went on to play club rugby for Old Boys University while also being a member of Wellington's Under-19 side which won the national title in 2014.
[2][3] Goosen first played provincial rugby for Wellington in the 2014 ITM Cup, making his only appearance in a 25-37 loss at home to Waikato in round 1.
[4] Goosen was not named in the Hurricanes squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season; however following an incident in which 5 players breached the franchise's protocols and were subsequently stood down, he made his Super Rugby debut in the number 11 jersey against the Reds.
[5][4][6] Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd promoted Goosen to the senior squad for the franchise's title defense in 2017.