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Birth name | Kyle Willets Godwin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 30 July 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Harare, Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 99 kg (15 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Aquinas College, Perth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kyle Godwin (born 30 July 1992) is a professional rugby union footballer who plays for Zimbabwe in international rugby, having previously played one test for Australia in 2016. He previously played for French club Lyon OU Rugby in the Top 14 competition, and the Western Force and Brumbies in Super Rugby. He also spent two years playing for Connacht in the URC, becoming a fan favourite. His regular playing position is centre, but has also found himself on the wing and fly half at times.
Godwin was born in Zimbabwe and moved with his family to Perth in Western Australia at the age of 8, where he played for the Associates club. [1] He first came onto the scene when he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys team which toured Ireland and the United Kingdom in 2009. He was also selected to represent Australia under 20 team that competed in the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa. [2]
In 2012, Godwin made his Super Rugby debut for the Western Force against the Queensland Reds in Perth. [3] He went on to play 52 games for the Western Force before moving to the Brumbies. During his time at the Force, he won Rookie of the Year, Members Most Valuable Player and the Nathan Sharpe Medal. He moved to Canberra in 2016 to play for the Brumbies where he played 24 games over two seasons. He then returned back from Ireland to compete with the Western Force once again for an additional two years and finished his super rugby career with a total of 107 super rugby caps.
On 20 March 2018, it was announced that Godwin was to play in the Pro 14 having signed for Connacht Rugby for the 2018/19 season. [4] The contract being of two-year duration initially.
On successful completion of his two-year contract with Connacht, the popular Aussie returned to Australia by signing again for Western Force in Perth. [5]
Godwin played international age-group rugby for Australia up to Under 20s. He gained his one senior cap for the Wallabies against France on 19 November 2016, playing the full game at inside centre. [6]
In 2024, having served the required 'stand-down' period of five years or more since last playing for his original international side, Godwin received his first call-up for the country of his birth. He made his debut for Zimbabwe against the UAE on 6 November 2024, coming on in the second half as a replacement at inside centre, joining a backline featuring his former teammate from the Western Force Ian Prior. [7]
Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Force | 3 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | Force | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1111 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | Force | 10 | 10 | 0 | 797 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | Force | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1228 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | Force | 9 | 7 | 2 | 565 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | Brumbies | 11 | 11 | 0 | 799 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
2018 | Brumbies | 13 | 10 | 2 | 292 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
2020 | Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 76 | 61 | 7 | 4825 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 82 | 1 | 0 |
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