Cecil Afrika

Cecil Sebastian Afrika (born 3 March 1988) is a South African rugby sevens player for the South Africa national team, where he plays at flyhalf. He was a member of the South African Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Cecil Afrika
Full nameCecil Sebastian Afrika
Date of birth (1988-03-03) 3 March 1988
Place of birthPort Elizabeth, South Africa
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb)
SchoolHentie Cilliers, Virginia
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback
Current team South Africa Sevens
Youth career
2004–2007 Griffons
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2006–2009 Griffons 48 (187)
2017 Free State XV 1 (0)
2017 Free State Cheetahs 4 (10)
2017 Cheetahs 2 (0)
Correct as of 22 April 2018
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2006 South Africa Schools
2008 South Africa Under-20 4 (5)
2009–present South Africa Sevens 318 (1,430)
Correct as of 11 June 2018
Medal record
Men's rugby sevens
Representing  South Africa
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam competition
Commonwealth Games
2014 GlasgowTeam competition

Early life

He attended Hentie Cilliers High School in Virginia. Afrika represented the South African Schoolboys in 2006. He was part of the South African under-20 squad in the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship that reached the third place playoffs.

National sevens team

Afrika debuted for the South African sevens team during the Dubai leg of the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. During the Las Vegas leg of the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series he was carried off the field on a stretcher after he was injured during the Plate Final match against Fiji, South Africa won 12–7. He was part of the sevens team that took Bronze at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, India in October.

Afrika missed out on the 2011 Wellington Sevens because of a broken jaw he suffered during the South African leg of the IRB Sevens Series.[1][2] He was the top try and point-scorer for the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series; He scored 40 tries throughout the series with a total of 385 points.[3] In 2011 he won the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year award.

In 2013, he was included in the squad for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.[4]

2016 Summer Olympics

Afrika was included in a 12-man squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[5] He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Pool B of the competition against Spain and scored two tries and two conversions to help South Africa to a 24–0 victory.[6][7] He started their second match against France, converting three of South Africa's tries in a 26–0 victory,[8][9] and dropped to the bench for their final match against Australia. Despite a 5–12 defeat in this match,[10][11] South Africa still finished top of Pool B to set up a quarter final rematch against Australia. Afrika was restored to the starting line-up for this match and converted one of South Africa's tries in a 22–5 victory.[12][13] He started South Africa's semi-final match against Great Britain but could not prevent them losing 5–7 to be eliminated from gold medal contention.[14][15] He also started their third-place play-off, scoring two tries and kicking five conversions in his side's 54–14 victory over Japan[16][17] to help South Africa secure a bronze medal in the competition.

References
  1. http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=529054.html%5B%5D
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. http://www.irbsevens.com/news/newsid=2043059.html#cecil+afrika+tops+sevens+scoring+charts
  4. "Kyle Brown back to command Springbok Sevens for Mission Moscow". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2013. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  5. "Rugby Sevens squad for Olympics named". South African Rugby Union. 14 July 2016. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  6. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (RSA–ESP)". Rio 2016. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  7. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 2". World Rugby. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  8. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (RSA–FRA)". Rio 2016. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  9. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 8". World Rugby. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  10. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (RSA–AUS)". Rio 2016. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 14". World Rugby. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  12. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (RSA–AUS)". Rio 2016. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  13. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 24". World Rugby. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  14. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (GBR–RSA)". Rio 2016. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  15. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 30". World Rugby. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  16. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (JPN–RSA)". Rio 2016. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  17. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 33". World Rugby. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
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