Cecil Sebastian Afrika (born 3 March 1988) is a South African rugby sevens player for the South Africa national team, where he plays at flyhalf. He also plays for the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Home field The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...

of Major League Rugby (MLR). Afrika was a member of the South African Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Afrika attended Hentie Cilliers High School in Virginia. Afrika represented the South African Schoolboys in 2006. He was part of the South African under-20 squad in the

2008 IRB Junior World Championship The 2008 IRB Junior World Championship was the first annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. All players who were twenty years of age or under on 1 January 2008 were eligible for selection. This competition repla ...

that reached the third place playoffs.

National sevens team

Afrika debuted for the South African sevens team during the Dubai leg of the

2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series was the eleventh of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. Samoa won the IRB Sevens World Series crown for their firs ...

. During the Las Vegas leg of the

he was carried off the field on a stretcher after he was injured during the Plate Final match against Fiji, South Africa won 12–7. He was part of the sevens team that took Bronze at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in October. Afrika missed out on the 2011 Wellington Sevens because of a broken jaw he suffered during the South African leg of the IRB Sevens Series. He was the top try and point-scorer for the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series; He scored 40 tries throughout the series with a total of 385 points. In 2011 he won the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year award. In 2013, Afrika was included in the squad for the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

2016 Summer Olympics

Afrika was included in a 12-man squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Pool B of the competition against

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and scored two tries and two conversions to help South Africa to a 24–0 victory. He started their second match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, converting three of South Africa's tries in a 26–0 victory, and dropped to the bench for their final match against Australia. Despite a 5–12 defeat in this match, South Africa still finished top of

Pool B Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

to set up a quarter final rematch against Australia. Afrika was restored to the starting line-up for this match and converted one of South Africa's tries in a 22–5 victory. He started South Africa's semi-final match against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

but could not prevent them losing 5–7 to be eliminated from gold medal contention. He also started their third-place play-off, scoring two tries and kicking five conversions in his side's 54–14 victory over Japan to help South Africa secure a bronze medal in the competition.

Retirement

Afrika retired from international sevens as South Africa's all time leading World Series scorer in June 2020.

Club Rugby

Afrika came through at the South African Currie Cup side Griffons before transitioning into the South African 7s setup. In 2017 he has a brief stint with the Cheetahs in their first season in the Pro14. In 2021 Afrika signed for American side San Diego Legion for the 2021 season as a fullback.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afrika, Cecil 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Port Elizabeth South African rugby union players Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa World Rugby Awards winners South Africa international rugby sevens players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of South Africa Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Griffons (rugby union) players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of South Africa Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players San Diego Legion players Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games