 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Wynand Olivier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 11 June 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Welkom, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (205 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wynand Olivier (born 11 June 1983) is a former South African professional rugby union player.His usual position was at centre.
Olivier made his provincial rugby debut for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup in a match against Boland in 2003. He made his debut in the Super 12 (now Super Rugby) competition in 2005, playing for the Bulls in a game against the Otago-based Highlanders. He was included in Jake White's 2006 Springboks 45 man training squad. Olivier made his test debut in the first test against Scotland in Durban in 2006 and was included in the Bok starting lineup for the tests against Scotland in Port Elizabeth and France in Cape Town. He was selected to tour with the Springboks as they started their Tri Nations quest in 2006.
Olivier has since further improved on his form and was an integral part of the Bulls' championship winning team proving to be Springbok material. Despite his match-winning qualities, he was second to Springbok veteran Adrian Jacobs in terms of consideration for the position of replacement center for the Springboks.
In 2013, it was announced that he will leave the Bulls to join French Top 14 side Montpellier. [1]
In 2015, it was announced that he will leave Montpellier to join English Aviva Premiership side Worcester Warriors. [2]
Olivier attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. He attended alongside Bulls teammates Derick Kuun, Pierre Spies, Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Springboks scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, Stormers lock Adriaan Fondse, former Stade Français lock Cliff Milton and Titans cricketers AB de Villiers, Heino Kuhn and Faf du Plessis.
In 2008 he was inducted into the University of Pretoria Sport Hall of fame. [3]
Jake White is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the Springboks – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri Nations. White also coached the Under-21 Springbok side to victory in the Under-21 World Cup in 2002. He was coach of the Brumbies in the Super Rugby from 2012, but resigned with two years remaining on his contract in 2013 to return to South Africa. On returning to South Africa, he coached the Sharks for a single season, explaining he wanted to seek international opportunities. This arose in a technical role with the Tongan national team. After assisting Tonga in their 3 Test European Tour in 2014, White was announced as Montpellier's new boss, overseeing all coaching aspects for the club.
The Blue Bulls is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province.
Victor Matfield is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and captained the South Africa national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in Super Rugby. He is generally considered one of the best locks to have ever played for South Africa and had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha.
John Philip Botha, known as by nickname Bakkies, is a South African former professional rugby union player who played as a lock. He was a member of the South Africa team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France in addition to winning two Tri Nations titles in 2004 and 2009. Botha played for RC Toulonnais in the Top 14 after signing from Blue Bulls provincial team in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls Super Rugby team. Botha was also a member of the Toulon squad which won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup Finals. Botha became widely associated with fellow international lock Victor Matfield for their highly successful onfield partnership with the Springboks.
Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the Golden Lions, the Blue Bulls and Western Province in South Africa, for the Bulls and the Stormers in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team.
Derick Hougaard, more commonly known as the 'Liefling van Loftus' is a South African professional rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Saracens in England. He normally played at flyhalf. Hougaard played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition in South Africa and the Bulls in the international Super Rugby competition.
Richard Edward "Richie" Bands is a former South African rugby union test player. He was part of the Springboks squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup and is fondly remembered in the South African rugby community for his memorable try for South Africa against the All Blacks in the 2003 Tri Nations Series.
Petrus Fourie du Preez is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls in Super Rugby between 2002 and 2011, and for Japanese Top League side Suntory Sungoliath between 2011 and 2016. He represented South Africa between 2004 and 2015, winning 76 caps, playing in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, and winning the 2007 competition.
Morné du Plessis OIS is a former South African rugby union player often described as one of the Springboks' most successful captains. During the five years from 1975 to 1980 that he served as captain, the Springboks won 13 of 15 matches, giving Du Plessis an 86.66% success rate as captain.
Akona Zilindlovu Ndungane is a former South African professional rugby union player whose usual position was on the wing, although he also played as the centre.
Pierre Johan Spies is a retired South African rugby union player. He usually played as a Number 8, but could also play as a flanker and at times was deployed on the wing. Between 2005 and 2015, he spent the majority of his career playing Super Rugby for the Bulls and domestic South African rugby for the Blue Bulls, followed by stints in the Japanese and French rugby championships. He represented South Africa internationally between 2006 and 2013.
Bismarck Wilhelm du Plessis is a South African former professional rugby union player, who played for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He played for the Free State Cheetahs in 2003, before moving to the Sharks in 2005 where he spent the bulk of his career, and then to Montpellier in the French Top 14. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best hookers of his time, both in club and country performances.
Gurthrö Garth Steenkamp is a former South African Rugby union player. He plays loosehead prop. Steenkamp had previously played for the Free State Cheetahs the Bulls and the Cats. He made his debut for the Springboks in late 2004 against Scotland.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with French side Perpignan. His regular position is fly-half.
Francois Hougaard is a South African professional rugby union player. His primary position is scrum-half, but he can also play wing.
Phillip Rudolph van der Merwe is a South African rugby union rugby player who plays in the lock position for French Top 14 side Clermont.
Handré Pollard is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. His regular playing positions are fly-half, where he started for South Africa in their 2019 Rugby World Cup Final win, and inside-centre. He has previously played for the Bulls and Blue Bulls in his native South Africa, Osaka Red Hurricanes in Japan and Montpellier in France. He is one of 43 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions, 24 of whom are South Africans.
Willem Hendrik Jacques "Sheep" du Plessis is a South African rugby union player. He plays for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. His regular playing positions are flanker or lock.
Pieter Willem Gabriel Rossouw is a South African former professional rugby player and current coach. Rossouw played wing for Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers in the Super Rugby competition. He played a total of 43 times for the Springboks, making him one of the most capped Springbok wingers after South Africa's readmission to international rugby. He was also one of South Africa's most prolific try-scoring wingers, post-isolation, with only Breyton Paulse(26) and Bryan Habana(53) scoring more tries. He is 7th on the all-time try-scoring list for the Springboks. Rossouw is currently the backline coach of the Bulls in Super rugby and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He was known as "Slaptjips", apparently because the sight of his running legs was like potato chips slapping together. Pieter is the older brother of Chris Rossouw, who played flyhalf for Western Province and the Free State Cheetahs.