Nic Groom
| Full name | Nicholas James Groom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 21 February 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | King William's Town, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 81 kg (12 st 11 lb; 179 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Rondebosch Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nicholas James Groom (born 21 February 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half for Template:Rut Edinburgh in the Pro14.
Career
A winner of the Varsity Cup with UCT in 2011, Groom received a swift call up to the Stormers side at the tail-end of the Super Rugby season to replace the injured Dewaldt Duvenhage and Ricky Januarie and he made a couple of substitute appearances. The next 18 months were to see him limited to Western Province appearances and he was a Currie Cup winner with the Streeptruie in 2012. 2013 saw the departure of Duvenhage and Groom was now in a one-on-one fight with Louis Schreuder for the Stormers and Province number 9 jersey and as a result he saw much more game time. He was a Currie Cup runner up in 2013 and he largely had to make do with appearances from the substitutes bench as Schreuder stole a march in the battle to be first choice scrum-half. However, he was to become a Currie Cup winner again in 2014, this time against the Template:Rut Golden Lions in a season which had seen him edge ahead of Louis Schreuder both at Super Rugby level where he started 12 of 16 games in a tough campaign and also domestically where he started 7 of 9 games and scored 1 try in the process.
He signed a contract to join English Premiership side Northampton Saints at the end of the 2016 Super Rugby season and has since become a regular started for the Midlands side.[1]
Groom has been a regular feature in the Saints' starting side and was instrumental in them securing European Champions Cup rugby for the 2017/18 season, featuring heavily in both the European Champions Cup play-off games where Saints saw off both Connacht Rugby and Stade Francais to secure their spot in the competition for the following season.[2] On 3 April 2018, it was announced that Groom would leave Northampton with immediate effect to join the Super Rugby team the Template:Rut Lions.[3]
On 27 June 2019, Groom returned to the UK with Pro14 side Edinburgh in Scotland from the 2019-20 season.[4]
International rugby
On 28 May 2016, Groom was included in a 31-man South Africa squad for their three-test match series against a touring Ireland team.[5] After training with the national team for a few days, he joined the South Africa 'A' squad for their two-match series against a touring England Saxons team.[6] He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Bloemfontein,[7] but ended on the losing side as the visitors ran out 32–24 winners.[8]
Super Rugby statistics
- As of 9 June 2020
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Points |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Template:Rut Stormers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Template:Rut Stormers | 0 | |||||||
| 2013 | Template:Rut Stormers | 9 | 4 | 5 | 371 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Template:Rut Stormers | 16 | 12 | 4 | 924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Template:Rut Stormers | 16 | 13 | 3 | 955 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | Template:Rut Stormers | 14 | 10 | 4 | 765 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | In Europe with Northampton Saints | ||||||||
| 2018 | Template:Rut Lions | 8 | 5 | 3 | 315 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Template:Rut Lions | 13 | 7 | 6 | 579 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 78 | 51 | 27 | 3949 | 8 | 40 | 1 | 0 | |
References
- ^ "DHL Stormers to bid Groom farewell" (Press release). Stormers. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/latest-headlines/2017/may-2017/saints-23-stade-francais-22-friday-night-may-lights-strike-again/
- ^ "Nic Groom to leave Saints with immediate effect" (Press release). Northampton Saints. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ "Edinburgh sign South African scrum-half Groom". Edinburgh Rugby. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Squad of 31 ushers in new era of Springbok rugby". South African Rugby Union. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Ackermann to coach SA 'A' against Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Youth and experience for SA 'A' opener against Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa "A" 24–32 England Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
External links
- "SA Rugby Player Profile – Nic Groom". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Stormers profile
- itsrugby.co.uk profile