Philip Albert "Stompie" de Wet (born 14 February 1989 in

Kuruman Kuruman is a small town with just over 53,000 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is known for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water ...

, South Africa) is a former 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, that played first class rugby with the from 2011 to 2014. His regular position was flanker.

Career

Youth and Varsity Cup rugby

While playing school rugby for Grey College in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, De Wet was selected for the Under-16 side that played at the 2005 Grant Khomo Week. His next provincial representation only came after he moved to

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" ...

to join the . He was part of the sides that played in the 2009 and 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championships. He also became a regular player for Potchefstroom-based university side the in the

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

competition, playing for them in four seasons between

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and

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 ...

, making in excess of twenty appearances in the competition and helping them reach their first final for five seasons in 2014, where they lost in dramatic fashion to the .

Leopards

He played first class rugby since 2011. His first ever senior appearance came during the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South A ...

competition; he started their match against

Argentinean Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish language, Spanish (Grammatical gender, masculine) or (Grammatical gender, feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be resident ...

invitational side the in

. He made two more starts in this competition – against the in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

and at home against , which also saw De Wet score his first try at provincial level as he dotted down in the third minute of the game. He was included in the Leopards'

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 for the

2011 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top t ...

season and made his debut in this competition on 22 July 2011 in their match against as his side crashed to a 9–47 defeat. His very next game saw De Wet score two tries in their match against the , but it wasn't enough as they lost the match 36–53. The Leopards' only victory of the season came in their next match against the as they ended the season in last position and were relegated to the

2012 Currie Cup First Division The 2012 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 30 June to 13 October 2012. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competit ...

, with De Wet appearing in nine of their matches. After three more appearances in 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 ...

, De Wet scored seven tries in just six appearances in the 2012 Currie Cup First Division. He scored four of those in one match, a 53–28 victory over the in Potchefstroom. Two tries in eight appearances followed in the

2013 Currie Cup First Division The 2013 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 June to 11 October 2013. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competiti ...

(both those tries coming in their match against the ) and he was also included in their squad for 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 ...

tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Wet, Stompie South African rugby union players Living people 1989 births People from John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality Rugby union flankers Leopards (rugby union) players Rugby union players from the Northern Cape Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein