Victor Kutlwano Sekekete (born 28 January 1994) is a South African professional

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 in the

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 ...

and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is flanker, but he also played as a lock earlier in his career.

Rugby career

2012 : Schoolboy rugby

Sekekete was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, where he attended Queens High School. In 2012, he was selected to represent the Golden Lions at the premier rugby union competition for high schools in South Africa, the Under-18

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 ...

. He started all three of their matches as a lock, as his team qualified to play in the unofficial final match of the tournament, where they lost to

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

rivals the Blue Bulls.

2013–2015 : Youth rugby

After school, Sekekete joined the Golden Lions academy. He featured in all fourteen of the team's matches in the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

, starting thirteen of those and playing off the bench in the other. He scored three tries during the season – one against the s and one in each of their matches against the s. The Golden Lions topped the log to qualify for the semi-finals, at which stage they beat 27–25, before losing 23–35 in the final against the . Sekekete started the 2014 season by playing 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 for , being utilised as a flanker for the first time. He featured in all seven of their matches in a disappointing season that saw the team finish second-bottom of the log which meant they had to compete in a

relegation play-off In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to retain their Varsity Cup status. Sekete started the play-off match in which UJ easily beat

Varsity Shield 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 ...

runners-up to remain in the top tier. Sekekete was then included in the South Africa Under-20 squad that competed at the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internation ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He was not included in the squad for their opening match in Pool C, a 61–5 victory over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, but played off the bench in their next match, a 33–24 victory over the hosts. He was named on the bench for their remaining three fixtures in the competition – a 21– win over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

to secure top spot in Pool C to qualify for the semi-finals, a 32–25 win over New Zealand in the semi-finals and a 20–21 loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the final – but failed to get any game time in those matches. Sekekete returned to domestic action by making twelve appearances for the team in the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

. He scored two tries during the competition – both in a 113–3 victory over – as the Golden Lions finished in third spot on the log before losing to the Blue Bulls in the semi-finals, the only match of the season that Sekekete did not feature in. Sekekete made his domestic first class debut on 13 March 2015, appearing as a replacement in the 's 31–21 victory over the , his only appearance in the competition. He again featured in every match for the team in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship. In his most prolific season so far in his career, he scored tries against the Sharks, Eastern Province and Leopards during the regular season, and another one in their 20–43 defeat to Western Province in the semi-finals of the competition.

2016–present : Golden Lions

Sekekete's second taste of domestic first class action came in the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

series for the Golden Lions XV, making two starts and coming on as a reserve in six matches, scoring a brace of tries in their final match in the competition, a 24–28 loss to the in

Grabouw Grabouw is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 highway.The town is the commercial centre for the vast Elgin ...

. Sekekete was included in the '

squad for the first time for the 2016 season. He was named on the bench for their opening match of the season against the and made his Currie Cup debut by coming on for the final twelve minutes of a 68–26 victory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekekete, Victor South African rugby union players Living people 1994 births Rugby union players from Johannesburg Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Golden Lions players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Southern Kings players Eastern Province Elephants players Griquas (rugby union) players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players