Ralph Nicholas Köster (22 February 1989 – 12 July 2023) was 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. He last played professionally for

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in the position of Flanker or Eight Man. He was latterly captain of

Cambridge University R.U.F.C. The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, sometimes abbreviated "CURUFC", is the rugby union club of the University of Cambridge. The team plays Oxford University RFC in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium every December. ...

Köster attended Bishops College in Cape Town and played in their First XV rugby team in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he played alongside Martin Muller and

Mathew Turner Mathew Drew Turner ("Mat" for short) (born 18 January 1988) is a South African born rugby union player who currently plays for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR). He also played rugby sevens for England on the Sevens World Se ...

. Köster made the Western Province

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The tou ...

side in 2006 and 2007 when he was captain. He was called up for South Africa Schools in both 2006 and 2007. Köster made 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 at the age of 19, playing at 8th man in 2008, and was picked on the bench for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

side to play at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, later that year. He 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 for the in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, playing on the wing, but suffered a knee injury against the at

Newlands Stadium The Newlands Stadium, referred to as DHL Newlands for sponsorship reasons, is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue. Various sports teams use the stadium as their ho ...

which put him out of action. His full-time return to the top flight was off the bench against the on 8 August 2010. The following week, he started at openside flank (no.7) versus the . Köster had Province's highest tackle count (24 tackles) against the Blue Bulls, while his 11 ball carries was second only to

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Champion ...

and he was one of only three WP players to secure a turnover. In October 2012, it was announced that he would join

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. He scored his first try for his new club against Italian team Calvisano in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Köster joined then

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

club

on a season long loan from August 2013, which evolved into Nick earning a permanent contract with

, aiding them in their promotion to the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

in 2016. In 2014, Nick became an ambassador for Project Zulu, a UK based charity running educational development projects in the

Madadeni Madadeni is a town in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which falls under Amajuba District Municipality Amajuba is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of Amajuba is Newcastle. The majority of its 468,040 people sp ...

township, KZN, South Africa. During Project Zulu’s 2015 and 2016 UK Choir Tours Nick arranged for the South African choir to perform on the pitch at half time of Bristol games. He and his wife had also hosted young people from Madadeni during Project Zulu fundraising choir tours in 2015 and 2016. Prior to the 2017/18 Aviva Premiership season, Koster was one of several players released by Bristol. Soon after leaving Bristol, Koster joined

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

to study an

MSt The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of Ne ...

Social Innovation Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions,Howaldt, J./ Schwarz, M"Social Innovation: Concepts, research fields and international trends" IMO international monitoring, 2010 ...

. He also joined the famous university's rugby team for the 2017-2018 rugby season. Bringing plentiful professional experience to the entirely amateur first team, made up of students. On 19 January 2018, Koster was named as men's captain for the

2018 rugby season. Köster died on 12 July 2023, at the age of 34.

References

External links

Stormers profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Nick 1989 births 2023 deaths Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Bath Rugby players Rugby union number eights People from Robertson, Western Cape University of Cape Town alumni South African expatriate rugby union players in England South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Rugby union players from the Western Cape Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players