Jovelian de Koker (born 28 February 1992) 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

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan language, Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''Departments of France, département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the ...

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 20 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Youth / Club rugby

De Koker's first provincial selection came when he appeared for the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

-based side during 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 ...

. He made two appearances from the bench as they finished in fifth place in Group B, outside the play-off spots. In 2012, De Koker made five appearances for 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 ...

. However, it was another disappointing season and Boland finished sixth on the log. They won just one match all season, a 30–12 victory over , one of three matches that De Koker started during the season. At the start of 2013, De Koker represented

Villagers Worcester Villagers Worcester Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby union club based in Worcester, South Africa. They are a member of the Boland Rugby Union and can provide players to the provincial team and the URC Rugby team. Origins The club was ...

in the inaugural edition of the SARU Community Cup competition. He started all four matches and scored consolation tries in their matches against Despatch and College Rovers, but Villagers finished in fourth spot and failed to qualify for the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He once again represented 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 ...

, making six starts and three appearances from the bench. A much-improved performance from Boland saw them finish in second spot in the league to qualify for the semi-finals, helped by tries from De Koker in their matches against in

Bela-Bela Bela-Bela (Tswana language, Tswana/Pedi for "the pot that boils") is a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Deriving its name from the geothermic hot springs around which the town was built, it was called Warmbaths, until 2002. The tow ...

and 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 ...

. In their semi-final match against the , De Koker scored two tries to help them to a 25–22 win and a final appearance, but he could not prevent them slipping to a 19–59 defeat to in the final.

Senior career

De Koker made the step up to the senior side and made his first class debut for the during 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 ...

competition, appearing as a replacement in their 8–16 defeat to

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

rivals . He made a further three appearances from the bench as Boland finished in sixth spot, missing out on the semi-finals. De Koker didn't feature in the

2014 Currie Cup qualification The 2014 Currie Cup qualification series was a tournament organised by the South African Rugby Union. It featured seven teams and was played in June and July 2014, with the winner qualifying for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division. The remaining ...

series – during which Boland failed to qualify for 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 ...

– but he did make 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 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 ...

, coming on as a replacement in their 19–27 defeat to the in Wellington. He made his first Currie Cup start in their next 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" ...

and repaid the selectors' faith in him by scoring a try in the 36th minute, but still ended on the losing side, with the Leopards winning the match 54–32. He made two more starts and one appearance off the bench, but once again missed out on the play-offs, by one point to eventual finalists . De Koker began 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 ...

as first-choice scrum-half for the Boland Cavaliers, starting their first three matches of the campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Koker, Jovelian South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births Rugby union players from Worcester, South Africa Rugby union scrum-halves Boland Cavaliers players