Takudzwa Ngwenya (born 22 July 1985) is a former

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 it ...

player who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Sta ...

and Biarritz Olympique in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He made his mark in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

with tries against

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 coun ...

and Samoa.

Early career

Ngwenya was born in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. The oldest of three boys, Ngwenya first played rugby in

for the Mashonaland Club and for

Vainona High School Vainona High School is a high school in a suburb called Vainona, near Borrowdale, Zimbabwe. History Vainona High School accepted its first 150 pupils in January 1974. The founder-head-master was Mr. William (Bill) A. Staude. Current Head is ...

, from which he graduated in 2003. After moving to the United States, he played for the Plano Rugby Club in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

and went on to play for the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club for a few years. He was clocked at 10.

hand time for the 100 m dash. DARC Rugby sent him to play for the Texas Select Side and the USA Under 19 national team, then the USA national rugby union team (sevens), national Sevens team that came first in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

and the 2007 North America 4.

Professional career

Ngwenya was offered a one-month trial at

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

in England's

Guinness 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 ...

by new coach Eddie Jones. However, he got a considerably better offer from

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...

in France's

, initially signing a two-year contract with them on 6 November 2007. Between 2007 and 2016 Ngwenya played regularly for Biarritz, as a winger. Ngwenya scored 2 tries in the 2007-08 Heineken Cup. In the

2009–10 Heineken Cup The 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the 15th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2009 and ended on 22 May 2010 with the final at Stade d ...

he helped the club make their first final since the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

. He scored 6 tries in the competition which placed him as joint second top try scorer. Ngwenya also had a stellar year in the

2009–10 Top 14 season The 2009–10 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It began on August 14, 2009 with a match between Toulon and Stade Français at Stade Mayol in Toulon, and continued ...

, starting in 21 games and winning 7 tries. In the 2010–11 Heineken Cup Ngwenya scored 5 tries, again tying for second. During the

2011–12 Top 14 season The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the National Rugby League (France), Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby ...

Ngwenya collected five tries in the Top 14 and added 4 more in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

Ngwenya crossed the whitewash for Biarritz seven times in all competitions during both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. ST vs BO - 2013-09-14 - 08

After a season with the San Diego Breakers in the inaugural PRO Rugby season Ngwenya headed back to France and the Top 14 after signing with

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department. They compete in the first-tier Top 14 competition. Briv ...

Club statistics

International tries

References

External links

USA Rugby Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngwenya, Takudzwa 1985 births Sportspeople from Harare Alumni of Vainona High School Zimbabwean rugby union players Biarritz Olympique players World Rugby Awards winners Living people Rugby union wings Zimbabwean emigrants to the United States Expatriate rugby union players in France United States international rugby union players Zimbabwean expatriate rugby union players Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate rugby union players American expatriate sportspeople in France United States international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players San Diego Breakers players San Diego Legion players