Gio Giaan Aplon (born 6 October 1982) 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

Toyota Verblitz Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is ...

in the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

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 ...

. He scored two tries in a 42–17 triumph against the Six Nations winner – France. The match was also his debut playing as a South African winger number 14.

Career

Aplon is a winger who played for the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

. He also has had a very successful South African sevens career. He has blistering speed and is known as the "pocket dynamo". Playing with the

gave him confidence. Even though he is small in stature, his speed and elusiveness causes the opposition much grief. He is known for his side steps and is a versatile backline player. Known affectionately by the nickname "Appels" (Afrikaans for Apples) by fans due to his surname, he has become a firm favourite amongst Bok supporters. During the Test in Cape Town against the French on 12 June 2010 he scored 2 tries and was named Man of the Match. Aplon was part of the winning Western Province

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 ...

side in 2012. On 13 May 2020, Aplon was announced as Jake White's first signing as the Blue Bulls coach.

Grenoble

Aplon signed a deal to join French side

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

after the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

Childhood

Aplon was born in Hawston, a small town to the east of Cape Town. Before he started playing rugby, he was in the cricket side for his school.

References

External links

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WP rugby profile

Stormers profile
1982 births Living people People from Overstrand Local Municipality Cape Coloureds South African rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings South Africa international rugby union players South Africa international rugby sevens players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France FC Grenoble players Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of South Africa Toyota Verblitz players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Rugby union players from the Western Cape {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub