Abongile Nonkontwana (born 10 April 1995 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for Ealing Trailfinders in the RFU Championship, having previously played for the from 2018 to 2019. His regular position is lock, but he occasionally plays as a flanker or eighth man.

Career

Youth

He represented Border at primary school level, playing for their Under-13 side at the Craven Week competition in 2008. He also played for them in the 2011 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week. In 2012, Nonkontwana moved to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

to enroll at

St. Alban's College St. Alban's College is a private, boarding, English medium and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Lynnwood Glen in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It was founded in 1963 by Anton Murray. Its history, influence, ...

. Here, he was selected in the 2012 South African Schools side, making one appearance for them against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. After appearing for the Blue Bulls at the Under-18 Craven Week competition in 2013, he was again selected in that season's South African Schools side, playing in their match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2014, he was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internation ...

. He started their opening match of the competition, a 61–5 victory over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and came on as a replacement in their 33–24 win over hosts

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He didn't feature in their final pool match against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and was an unused replacement in the semi-final win over New Zealand. He also didn't feature in the final, where England won the competition by beating South Africa 21–20. In the second half of 2014, he played for the side in the

2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Grou ...

, making eight appearances – mainly as a flanker – as his side made it all the way to the final against . Nonkontwana started the final, but could not prevent his side suffering a 26–33 defeat. In 2015, he was again called up to a South Africa Under-20 training squad as preparation for the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

. He started in their friendly match against a

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

Dream Team XV in April 2015 before being named in a squad to tour

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

for a two-match warmup series. He played in both their 25–22 victory in the first match and their 39–28 victory in the second match against

and was subsequently named in the final squad for the World Championship. He started their first match, a 33–5 win over hosts

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, but did not feature in their remaining two pool matches or the semi-final defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was named on the bench for their third-place play-off match against

, but failed to get any game time.

Blue Bulls

Nonkontwana was named in the squad for the

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Africa ...

, but did not make any appearances in the competition. In June 2015, he extended his contract at the Bulls until October 2017.

Ealing Trailfinders

On 7 September 2020, Nonkontwana travels to England to sign for Ealing Trailfinders in the RFU Championship from the 2020-21 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonkontwana, Abongile South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Blue Bulls players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club players CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players