Thulani Siphamandla Ngidi (born 11 January 1986 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) 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, who most recently played with the . His regular position is tighthead prop. Retired from the sport 2016

Career

Youth and amateur rugby

After representing amateur side Jaguars at the National Club Championships in 2006, he played for the side in the 2007 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

Falcons

His first experience of first class rugby was in 2010. He moved to the

East Rand The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes ...

to join the and was included in their squad for the

2010 Currie Cup First Division The 2010 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 16 July through to 15 October 2010. 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 ...

competition. He made his debut by starting their first match of the season 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 ...

. He started their first seven matches of the season and played off the bench in three more matches as the finished in last position in the competition. He made a further eight appearances for the side 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 (seven of those as a substitute) and just three appearances in the

2011 Currie Cup First Division The 2011 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 15 July to 14 October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of the 73rd season of the Currie Cup, an annual rugby union ...

College Rovers

Ngidi then returned to

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

where he was a member of the College Rovers side that finished runners-up at the inaugural edition of the amateur club competition, the SARU Community Cup in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. He made one start during the pool stages of the competition and came on as a substitute in their semi-final match against Brakpan, but was not used in the final as College Rovers suffered a 26–24 defeat to Despatch.

Return to Falcons

He returned to provincial rugby in 2014 to play for Falcons again. He made six starts 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 ...

competition, started their first four matches 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 ...

tournament and appeared as a replacement in all seven of their matches 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 ...

, including the 31–24 semi-final victory over the and their 21–23 defeat to the in the final. He remained with the Falcons for the 2015 season, making a total of seventeen first class appearances in the

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

Currie Cup qualification Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

and Currie Cup First Division competitions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngidi, Thulani 1986 births Living people Falcons (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Durban Rugby union props South African rugby union players