Friedle Olivier (born 27 May 1992) is a professional South African rugby union player for the Enisei-STM in the Rugby Premier League. His regular position is as a number eight, but he played as a flanker and a lock earlier in his career.

Career

Olivier earned his first provincial selection when he was included in the Blue Falcons side that played at the Under-18 Academy Week tournament in 2010. After high school, he fell in with the ' youth structures and made five appearances for the side in Group B of the

2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2011 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 15 July to 29 October 2011. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There were seven partici ...

, helping them reach the semi-finals of the competition. In 2012, he made three starts for the s in the

2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There are seven p ...

, scoring two tries in their match against s in a 31–27 victory. He was included in the Falcons' senior squad for the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

and made his first class debut by starting their Round One 0–62 defeat to the in

Nelspruit Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...

. He also started their next match – as they bounced back to beat the 27–22 in Kempton Park – and their Round Three match against the in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

, which saw Olivier score his first senior try halfway through the first half in a 16–47 defeat. He appeared as a replacement in their remaining four matches of the competition as they finished in seventh position on the Northern Section log to miss out on a quarter final berth. His

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 ...

debut came in August 2013; this also happened in Nelspruit in a match against the as he came on as a late replacement in a 12–69 defeat. He made one more Currie Cup appearance in their match against the in

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The cit ...

, but spent the majority of the season playing for and captaining the s in the

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

. He started all seven of their matches and scored eight tries; he scored in six of their matches and got two tries against both and the s to finish the season as the Falcons U21s' top scorer. He made six appearances in the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Cu ...

as the Falcons won one match out of seven to finish in seventh position on the Northern Section and a further three appearances in the 2014 Currie Cup qualification competition, where teams competed for a spot in the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

. The Falcons finished in sixth spot to remain in the

2014 Currie Cup First Division The 2014 Currie Cup First Division was contested between 29 August and 17 October 2014. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union ...

. Olivier made three appearances in the Currie Cup First Division, including his first Currie Cup start in their 36–27 victory over the , a match which also saw Olivier score his first try in the Currie Cup competition in the final ten minutes of the match. The Falcons finished fourth on the log to qualify for the semi-finals; Olivier was not involved in their 31–24 victory over a team that finished top of the log or the final, where the Falcons lost 21–23 to the Griffons in

. Olivier made four starts for the Falcons in 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 ...

competition and contributed tries in their matches against the ,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n side and the to help the Falcons finish in fifth spot, narrowly missing out on a quarter final spot. He made five appearances for them in the

2015 Currie Cup qualification The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...

competition where they again fell short, finishing in third spot on the log despite Olivier tries in their matches against the and the . He started their

2015 Currie Cup First Division The 2015 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 August to 8 October 2015. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union compet ...

campaign in fine style, scoring two tries in their 48–27 victory over the in the first match of the competition.

Statistics

Honours

* Russian Championships (2): 2020-21, 2021-22 * Russian Cup (2): 2020, 2021 * Nikolaev Cup (2): 2021, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Friedle South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union players from Pretoria Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Falcons (rugby union) players Yenisey-STM Krasnoyarsk players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players