Mpho Mbiyozo
Full nameMpho Mzukisi Mbiyozo
Date of birth (1983-02-07) 7 February 1983
Place of birthLusikisiki, South Africa
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight94 kg (207 lb; 14 st 11 lb)
SchoolGrey High School
UniversityUniversity of Cape Town
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Youth career
2002–2003 Western Province
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005–2007 Western Province 18 (10)
2008 → Boland Cavaliers 1 (0)
2010–2013 Eastern Province Kings 54 (50)
2013 Southern Kings 1 (5)
2014–2015 Vigo 20 (50)
Correct as of 11 October 2013
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008 South Africa Sevens
2009 Southern Kings 1 (5)
2011 South African Kings 1 (0)
2012 South African Barbarians (South) 1 (0)
Correct as of 21 February 2013

Mpho Mbiyozo (born 7 February 1983) is a former South African rugby union player who played with Western Province and the Eastern Province Kings between 2005 and 2013.[1] He usually played as a flanker.

He is currently a coach at the Boland Cavaliers' academy, the Boland Rugby Institute,[2] having previously been the skills and lineout coach with Western Province and also being involved with the Kenyan national team.[3]

Career

Youth

He was born in Lusikisiki, went to school at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth and represented Western Province in various youth competitions until being included in the 2005 Vodacom Cup squad.

Senior career

In 2006, he was called into the South African Sevens rugby team, making some domestic appearances for Western Province and the Boland Cavaliers. He represented the national sevens team until 2009, when he announced he wanted to return to the fifteen-a-side game. He joined the Eastern Province Kings in 2010.

Mpho also made history during the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when he became the first player to score a try for the newly created Southern Kings rugby franchise.

2013 Southern Kings Super Rugby season

He was included in the Southern Kings squad for the 2013 Super Rugby season,[4] but failed to make any of their initial matchday squads. Instead, he was the regular captain of the Eastern Province Kings team in their 2013 Vodacom Cup campaign, leading them to their best performance up to that point in the Vodacom Cup by reaching the semi-finals. He played in seven of their nine games that season and scored three tries, making him the joint top try scorer for the EP Kings in that competition.[5]

He was eventually named as a starter for the Southern Kings for their final Super Rugby match of the regular 2013 Super Rugby season against the Sharks.[6]

Vigo

Mbiyozo also had a season playing for Spanish side Vigo in the 2014–15 División de Honor de Rugby. He made 20 appearances and scored 10 tries,[7] to finish in the top ten of the try-scoring charts of the competition.[8] However, despite his efforts, his side finished bottom of the log to be relegated to the División de Honor B de Rugby.

References

  1. ↑ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Mpho Mbiyozo". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Mbiyozo joins new-look Boland Rugby Institute". South African Rugby Union. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Kenya is more than just a Sevens nation". IRB. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "SA Rugby Squad – Southern Kings : 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2013 Vodacom Cup". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Southern Kings Team announced to play The Sharks". Rugby15. 9 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Ficha Federado - Mpho Mbiyozo". Spanish Rugby Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Clasificación de anotadores por ensayos". Federación Española de Rugby. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
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