David George Murray (born 7 March 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, currently with the in

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 ...

rugby. His regular position is loosehead prop.

Rugby career

2013–14: Craven Week and Under-19 rugby

Murray earned his first provincial selection in 2013, when he represented the Eastern Province Country Districts at the premier schools tournament in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week, held in Polokwane. Just two months later, he was also included in the squad that participated in Group B of the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

. He started the final two matches of the regular season as they finished in third position to secure a semi-final spot. He also started their 45–30 victory over in the semi-final and their 56–40 win over in the final to help his side become Group B champions. He also started their 27–20 victory over in the

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

as his side secured promotion to Group A for

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. He again represented Eastern Province U19 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 ...

. After playing off the bench in their Round One defeat to , he made ten starts in their remaining eleven matches, helping them to sixth position on the log, winning four of their twelve matches.

2015–: Under-21 and Currie Cup rugby

Murray progressed to the team in 2015 and he immediately established himself as a first team regular, starting all twelve of their matches in Group A of the Under-21 Provincial Championship. However, the team – who were promoted from Group B at the end of the 2014 season – struggled at their new level and won just one of their matches, finishing bottom of the log. Following serious financial problems at the at the end of the 2015 season which saw a number of first team regular leave the union, a number of youngsters were promoted to the squad that competed in 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. Murray was among the players named in the squad and he was named in the starting lineup for their first match of the season against the , playing the first 74 minutes of a 14–37 defeat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, David South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth Rugby union props Eastern Province Elephants players Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown