Aliqhayiya Mgijima (born ) 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 the in the Pro14, 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 the in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is centre.

Rugby career

2013: Schoolboy rugby

Mgijima was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. He moved to Fort Beaufort where he attended primary school before moving to Bloemfontein to attend HTS Louis Botha. In 2013, he was included in the Free State squad that competed at the premier high school rugby union competition, the Under-18 Craven Week held in Polokwane, where he started all three matches in the inside centre position.

2014–2016: Youth and Varsity Cup rugby

In 2014, he was included in the squad that participated in the Under-19 Provincial Championship, making three appearances as a replacement in the competition. He started the 2015 season by featuring in the

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 ...

for Bloemfontein-based university side . He started five matches and scored one try in a 13–34 defeat to . In the second half of the year, he made five appearances – which included one start – for the s in the Under-21 Provincial Championship. He made six appearances for CUT Ixias in the

2016 Varsity Cup The 2016 Varsity Cup was contested from 8 February to 11 April 2016. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-unive ...

and was named in the squad for the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

series. He made his first class debut on 27 May 2016, starting in their 26–29 defeat to the . In his fifth appearance of the season, at home to the , Mgijima scored his first senior try, helping his side to a 33–27 victory, eventually making six appearances in the competition. He was a key member of the Free State U21s'

2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship was the 2016 edition of the Under-21 Provincial Championship, an annual national Under-21 rugby union competition held in South Africa, and was contested from 5 August to 22 October 2016. The competition w ...

campaign, featuring in all seven of their matches. He scored one try for the team, scoring their first try of the season in a 43–26 victory over the s as the team finished in fourth place on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. However, he couldn't prevent them slipping to a 23–26 defeat to in the semi-final, a result which saw them eliminated from the competition.

2017: Super Rugby

During the

2017 Super Rugby season The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expand ...

, Mgijima was named on the bench for the for their Round Three match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese side the , and made his

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 ...

debut by replacing Clinton Swart in the 56th minute of the match.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mgijima, Ali South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births People from Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality Rugby union centres Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Pumas (Currie Cup) players Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape