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Wandile Mjekevu

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Wandile Mjekevu
Full nameWandile Gabada Mjekevu
Date of birth (1991-01-07) 7 January 1991 (age 33)
Place of birthDurban, South Africa
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight94 kg (207 lb; 14 st 11 lb)
SchoolKing Edward VII School, Johannesburg
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing / Centre
Current team Stade Olympique Chambérien Rugby
Youth career
2007–2011 Golden Lions
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 College Rovers 5 (25)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–2011 Lions 10 (20)
2010–2011 Golden Lions XV 4 (5)
2012–2013 Sharks XV 6 (5)
2013–2015 Perpignan 36 (80)
2015–2016 Sharks (Currie Cup) 13 (15)
2016–2017 Southern Kings 11 (30)
2016–2017 Sharks XV 3 (20)
2017 Eastern Province Kings 3 (5)
2017–2018 Toulouse 14 (20)
2018–2019 Perpignan 5 (0)
2021 Sporting Club Albigeois 7 (10)
2021–2022 Stade Olympique Chambérien Rugby 15 (0)
2022- Sporting Club Albigeois ()
Correct as of 23 June 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008 South Africa Under-18 Elite Squad
2008 South Africa Schools
2009 South Africa Schools High Performance squad
2010–2011 South Africa Under-20 10 (35)
Correct as of 9 September 2021

Wandile Gabada Mjekevu (born 7 January 1991) is a South African rugby union player who plays as a center or a wing for Sporting Club Albigeois in the French Top 14 competition.

Career

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Club

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Golden Lions

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He started his career with the Johannesburg-based Golden Lions. He represented them at Under-16 level in 2007 and at the 2008 Craven Week tournament. After playing for the Golden Lions U19 side in 2008 and 2009, he made his first class debut for the Lions in their 2010 Super 14 match against the Stormers.[1] In his second match, he scored a hat-trick in the Lions' 65–72 defeat to New Zealand's Chiefs.[2] He eventually made a total of ten appearances during the tournament. He played for the Golden Lions U21s in the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A, making three appearances. He was named on the bench for the Golden Lions' 2010 Currie Cup Premier Division match against the Pumas, but failed to make an appearance.[3]

The following season, he made four appearances for the Golden Lions in the 2011 Vodacom Cup and eleven appearances for the Golden Lions in the 2011 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

Sharks

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In 2012, Mjekevu returned to his hometown of Durban to join the Sharks. He made six appearances for them during the 2012 Vodacom Cup, scoring one try in their match against a Free State XV.[4] He played in 13 matches for the Sharks XV during the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

However, he failed to break into their Currie Cup squad and the following season, he played in the 2013 SARU Community Cup for Durban-based club side College Rovers. He scored a brace of tries in their match against SK Walmers[5] and a hat-trick the following week against Villagers Worcester[6] as College Rovers finished runners-up in the inaugural competition.

Perpignan

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In 2013, Mjekevu signed a deal to join French Top 14 side Perpignan in 2013.[7] He scored four tries in 15 appearances for them in the 2013–14 Top 14 season, which wasn't enough to prevent his side finishing 13th and being relegated to the Rugby Pro D2. He also scored two tries in three appearances in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup.

He scored ten tries in 18 appearances in the 2014–15 Rugby Pro D2 as Perpignan finished in third place on the log, before losing to Agen on number of tries scored in the promotion play-offs.

Return to Sharks

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After the 2014–2015 European season, Mjekevu returned to the Sharks prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division, signing a two-year deal with the team.[8]

Kings

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Mjekevu was named in the Sharks squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season,[9] but failed to make any appearances in the first thirteen rounds of the competition and was loaned out to the Port Elizabeth-based Southern Kings for the remainder of the season.[10]

Return to Europe: Top 14 and Nationale

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Since leaving the Southern Kings in 2017, Mjekevu has played for a variety of French sides. He spent a season each at Toulouse and his former club Perpignan in the Top 14 but after limited game time at Perpignan and not playing for a period, he moved to the Sporting Club Albigeois in the Nationale for the 2020/2021 season. After a handful of appearances, he moved to Stade Olympique Chambérien Rugby for the 2021/2022 season, playing for them on 15 occasions. On 21 June 2022, Sporting Club Albigeois announced that Mjekevu was returning to them for the 2022/2023 season [11]

Representative rugby

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Mjekevu earned a number of call-ups to junior South African sides. He was selected in a South African Under-18 Elite Squad in 2008 and subsequently selected in the final South African Schools squad in the same year. In 2009, he was included in a South African Under-18 High Performance Squad and he was a member of the South Africa Under-20 team that played in the 2010 and 2011 IRB Junior World Championships.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Auto & General Lions 13–26 Vodacom Stormers". South African Rugby Union. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  2. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Auto & General Lions 65–72 Chiefs". South African Rugby Union. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Lions 27–34 Barloworld Toyota Pumas". South African Rugby Union. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Toyota Free State XV 38–51 Sharks XV". South African Rugby Union. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Jonsson College Rovers (KZN) 30–18 SK Walmers (WP)". South African Rugby Union. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – United Bulk Villagers Worcester (Boland) 17–43 Jonsson College Rovers (KZN)". South African Rugby Union. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Duvenage off to Perpignan". SA Rugby. 20 April 2013. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  8. ^ "The Cell C Sharks sign Wandile Mjekevu" (Press release). Sharks. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  9. ^ "2016 Squad - Sharks Rugby". Sharks. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Wandile Mjekevu joins the Southern Kings on loan" (Press release). Southern Kings. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  11. ^ Sporting Club Albigeois [@SCA_OFFICIEL] (21 June 2022). "𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 Wandile Mjekevu, (de) nouveau joueur du SCA! Le 3/4 expérimenté fait son retour dans l'effectif Jaune & Noir!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "South Africa U20 squad named". SuperSport. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
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