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A few months after their heroics at this year’s edition of the FNB Varsity Shield competition, six WSU All-Black rugby players donned the famous green, white and brown of Border to represent the region in the Black Label Currie Cup First Division rugby competition.
After helping the WSU All Blacks reach this year’s FNB Varsity Shield final against CPUT, WSU All Blacks captain Litha Nkula, Lwandile Mapuko, Sicelo Tole, Hlomla Payi, Asekho Marubelela, Eric Mcapukane, Miyelani Ngobeni and Xolani Jacobs added yet more feathers to their caps following their selection to the Border outfit.
“Playing in this competition has been of great benefit for me and I’ve gained a lot of experience. I’ve seen my game and match temperament grow in a huge way. This can only bode well for my rugby career going forward,” said lock forward, Hlomla Payi.
The lanky forward, a third-year Public Management student who hails from Peelton, a village on the outskirts of King Williamstown, said his love affair with rugby began at the age of 11 when he was introduced to the sport by his teacher during his primary school days at Bhisho High School.
His teammate, WSU All Blacks captain and utility back Litha Nkula said rugby was an outlet through which he could channel all the unrelenting energy he had as a young boy growing up in the rural town of Elliot.
“I was a very energetic boy that loved playing risky and dangerous games such as karate and wrestling. It was only natural for me then that when beginner’s rugby was introduced I dove in head first and immersed myself in the sport, to great benefit to myself as a person,” said Nkula.
It was at the tender age of eight whilst attending rugby clinics that Nkula would fall in love with the game, a journey which has, in 2021, culminated in him starting all of Border’s 6 round robin games during the Black Label Currie Cup competition.
WSU All Blacks powerhouse and outside centre, Sicelo Tole, who hails from the small town of Kariega just outside Gqeberha, comes from a family of rugby enthusiasts with his father and brother having played the game as youths.
“I started being familiar with rugby at four years old due to my watching rugby with my father. He would also play with me as we’d pass the ball back and forth amongst each other. I owe all the talent and success I’ve experienced in rugby to them for they nurtured me with regards to the game,” said Tole.
- Thando Cezula
