John-Ben Kôtze (born 24 January 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player for the Bulls in Super Rugby and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup.[1] His regular position is centre, but he is also comfortable at wing.
| Full name | John-Ben Kôtze | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 24 January 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Carletonville, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 95 kg (14 st 13 lb; 209 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Bishops College, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
editSchool
editKôtze attended Bishops College in Cape Town and played for their first XV in 2010 and 2011, where he played alongside Dillyn Leyds in 2010 and Tim Swiel in both 2010 and 2011.
2012–13
editKôtze's first provincial involvement came in 2012, when he was included in the Western Province U19 squad that participated in the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He also made a single appearance for the Western Province U21s in the same season. He made ten appearances for Western Province U21 in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring a brace of tries in his first start at this level in their final match of the regular season against the Sharks U21.[2] They topped the log to qualify for the semi-finals and Kôtze started both the semi-final win against the Golden Lions U21[3] and the final against the Blue Bulls, where he helped his side to a 30–23 victory over the Blue Bulls U21.[4]
2014–2015
editThe following year, he was a member of the Maties side that played in the 2014 Varsity Cup. He played in the first four of Maties' matches in this competition, scoring two tries. He then moved to the Western Province squad that participated in the 2014 Vodacom Cup, where he made his first class debut by starting their 16–8 victory in the opening round of the competition.[5] Kôtze also scored his first career try in Round Five of the competition, a 65–29 victory over Kenyan invitational side Simba XV,[6] eventually making a total of 6 starts.
Kôtze was a key figure for the Western Province U21 side that participated in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, starting eleven of their fourteen matches during the competition, including their semi-final victory over Free State U21 – during which he scored one of seven tries during the season to help Western Province to a 41–17 victory[7] – and the final, where they lost 10–20 to the Blue Bulls U21s.[8]
In 2015, Kôtze was named in the wider training group of Super Rugby side the Stormers.[9] He was included in their final squad for the season[10] and was included in the starting line-up for their season-opening match against the Bulls.[11] He played the entire 80 minutes of the match as the Stormers started their season in fine form by running out 29–17 winners in the match in Pretoria.[12]
References
edit- ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Johnny Kôtze". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – The Sharks U21 24–51 DHL Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 44–41 MTN Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 30–23 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 16–8 Regent Boland Cavaliers". South African Rugby Union. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 65–29 Tusker Simba XV". South African Rugby Union. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U21 41–17 Free State U21". South African Rugby Union. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U21 10–20 Blue Bulls U21". South African Rugby Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "DHL Stormers set sail for Hermanus". Stormers. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ "Team : The Stormers". Stormers. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "DHL Stormers choose for Loftus opener". Stormers. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Bulls 17–29 DHL Stormers". South African Rugby Union. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.