Abongile Nonkontwana

Abongile Nonkontwana
Personal information
Born (1995-04-10) 10 April 1995
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
School(s) attended Selborne College, East London /
St. Alban's College, Pretoria
Club information
Playing position Lock / Flanker / Eighth man
Current club Blue Bulls
Youth career
2008–11 Border Bulldogs
2013– Blue Bulls
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Pts)†
2015– Blue Bulls 0 (0)
Representative team(s)‡
2012–13 S.A. Schools 2 (0)
2014–15 S.A. Under-20 3 (0)

* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 19 June 2015.
† Appearances (Points).

‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 19 June 2015.

Abongile Nonkontwana (born 10 April 1995 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Blue Bulls.[1] His regular position is lock, but he occasionally plays as a flanker or eighth man.

Career

Youth

He represented Border at primary school level, playing for their Under-13 side at the Craven Week competition in 2008. He also played for them in the 2011 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week.

In 2012, Nonkontwana moved to Pretoria to enroll at St. Alban's College. Here, he was selected in the 2012 South African Schools side, making one appearance for them against Wales in George.[2][3]

After appearing for the Blue Bulls at the Under-18 Craven Week competition in 2013, he was again selected in that season's South African Schools side, playing in their match against France.[4]

In 2014, he was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship. He started their opening match of the competition, a 61–5 victory over Scotland,[5] and came on as a replacement in their 33–24 win over hosts New Zealand.[6] He didn't feature in their final pool match against Samoa[7] and was an unused replacement in the semi-final win over New Zealand.[8] He also didn't feature in the final, where England won the competition by beating South Africa 21–20.[9]

In the second half of 2014, he played for the Blue Bulls U19 side in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, making eight appearances – mainly as a flanker – as his side made it all the way to the final against Western Province U19. Nonkontwana started the final, but could not prevent his side suffering a 26–33 defeat.[10]

In 2015, he was again called up to a South Africa Under-20 training squad as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[11] He started in their friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team XV in April 2015[12] before being named in a squad to tour Argentina for a two-match warmup series.[13] He played in both their 25–22 victory in the first match[14] and their 39–28 victory in the second match against Argentina[15] and was subsequently named in the final squad for the World Championship.[16] He started their first match, a 33–5 win over hosts Italy,[17] but did not feature in their remaining two pool matches or the semi-final defeat to England.[18] He was named on the bench for their third-place play-off match against France, but failed to get any game time.[19]

Blue Bulls

Nonkontwana was named in the Blue Bulls squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup,[20] but did not make any appearances in the competition.

In June 2015, he extended his contract at the Bulls until October 2017.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "SARU Player Profile Abongile Nonkontwana". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Match Breakdown: South Africa vs Wales". South African Rugby Union. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Profile: Abongile Nonkontwana". Rugby365. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Match Breakdown: South Africa vs France". South African Rugby Union. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Match Breakdown: South Africa vs Scotland". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Match Breakdown: New Zealand vs South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Samoa vs South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Match Breakdown: South Africa vs New Zealand". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Match Breakdown: England vs South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Western Province U19 vs Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "SARU names large group for Junior Bok trials". South African Rugby Union. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Varsity Cup XV vs South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "SARU names Junior Bok squad for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 25 a 22". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 12 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 39 a 28". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 16 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Liebenberg to lead Junior Boks at U20 World Championship in Italy". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Italy U20 vs South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "Match Breakdown: South Africa U20 vs England U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  19. ↑ "Match Breakdown: France U20 vs South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "2015 Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup season". Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Vodacom Blue Bulls name Absa Currie Cup squad" (Press release). Bulls. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
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