Akona Zilindlovu Ndungane (born 20 February 1981 in

Mthatha Mthatha , formerly Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known as the K. D. Matanzi ...

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 former

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 whose usual position was on the wing, although he also played as the centre. He started his career in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, playing for the in 2003 and for the in 2004 and 2005, before he was loaned out to the for two seasons and eventually bought outright by the

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 ...

-based side. However, he spent the bulk of his career in Pretoria, where he played for the in the international

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition as well as the in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

competition. In 2005, he made his Super 12 debut for the Bulls against the . In 2004, he was included in the

South Africa Sevens The South Africa Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament that is held in South Africa. It is currently hosted in Cape Town and is part of the Sevens World Series run by World Rugby. A South African leg of the World series has been include ...

side that competed at the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

in Bordeaux and London. He also represented the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in 2006 and 2007, and was part of the victorious

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

squad. He announced his retirement at the conclusion of the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

, having made in excess of hundred appearances for the Bulls in Super Rugby and a similar amount in domestic rugby with the Blue Bulls, Border Bulldogs and Mighty Elephants. He is the twin brother of winger

Odwa Ndungane Odwa Mzuzo Ndungane (born 20 February 1981 in Mthatha, South Africa) is a former rugby union player that played first class rugby between 2000 and 2017. He played on the wing and spent the bulk of his career playing for the Sharks in the Super ...

, who spent most of his career in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

with the .

References

External links

*
Akona Ndungane
on bluebulls.co.za

on itsrugby.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Ndungane, Akona 1981 births Living people People from Mthatha Xhosa people Twin sportspeople South African twins South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Rugby union wings South Africa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape