Lusanda Badiyana
Date of birth (1996-09-01) 1 September 1996
Place of birthEast London, South Africa
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight110 kg (240 lb; 17 st 5 lb)
SchoolCambridge High School
UniversityNelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number eight / Lock / Flanker
Current team Southern Kings
Youth career
2014 Border Bulldogs
2015–2017 Eastern Province Kings
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–2018 Eastern Province Elephants 19 (15)
2018 Southern Kings 4 (0)
Correct as of 13 July 2018

Lusanda Badiyana (born 1 September 1996) is a South African rugby union player for the Southern Kings in the Pro14.[1] His regular position is eighth man, but he can also play as a flanker or a lock.

Rugby career

2014: Border

Badiyana was born and grew up in East London, where he also attended Cambridge High School. In 2014, he was selected to represent the East London-based Border Bulldogs at the Under-18 Academy Week in Worcester, where he made three starts to help his side to two victories at the tournament.[2]

2015–2016: Eastern Province Kings

After school, Badiyana moved to Port Elizabeth to join the Eastern Province Kings academy. He was named the vice-captain of the Eastern Province U19 squad that competed in the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship, leading the team on occasion when regular captain Jeremy Ward was unavailable.[3] Badiyana missed just one match all season, starting in eleven of their twelve matches during the regular season. He was mostly used as a lock during the campaign, and he scored tries in matches against Golden Lions U19,[4] Sharks U19[5] and Leopards U19[6] to help his team finish top of the log, winning eleven of their twelve matches to qualify for the semi-finals.[7] Badiyana started their 31–15 victory over Free State U19,[8] as well as in the final, as they beat the Blue Bulls U19s – the only team to beat them all season – 25–23 in Johannesburg[9] to win the Under-19 Provincial Championship for the first time in their history.[10]

In March 2016, Badiyana was included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad as they prepared for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament to be held in Manchester, England.[11] However, he failed to make the cut for a reduced provisional squad named a week later,[12] instead linking up with the Eastern Province Kings squad that participated in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series.[13][14] He did not feature in any of their first five matches of the season, but made his first class debut by coming on as a replacement in their 10–50 defeat to Western Province on 14 May 2016.[15] He made his first start a week later in a 15–35 defeat to a Free State XV[16] and remained in the squad for the remainder of the competition, making a total of seven starts and two appearances off the bench. Badiyana scored his first senior try in his sixth appearance for the Eastern Province Kings in their 12–29 defeat to Griquas,[17] and scored a second in their final match of the season, a 26–59 defeat to the Falcons.[18] Badiyana's debut season in first class rugby ended in disappointing fashion, as the team finished second-bottom on the log, with just two victories in their fourteen matches.[19]

At the end of the 2016 season, Badiyana reverted to the Eastern Province U21 team, where he started in victories over Sharks U21[20] and Free State U21[21] in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship. Eastern Province U21 won just one more match, however, and finished the season in fifth place, just missing out on the play-off semi-finals.[22] After the season, Badiyana had a trial with the Southern Kings Super Rugby team[23] and he was included in their squad for the 2017 Super Rugby season.

References

  1. ↑ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Lusanda Badiyana". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "SA Rugby Squad – Border : 2014 U18 Academy Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 24–15 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 28–19 Golden Lions U19". South African Rugby Union. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Sharks U19 24–34 Eastern Province U19". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 33–14 Leopards U19". South African Rugby Union. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2015 Absa Under 19 Competition". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 31–15 Free State U19". South African Rugby Union. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U19 25–23 Blue Bulls U19". South African Rugby Union. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "WP young guns, EP clinch junior titles". South African Rugby Union. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Large group invited to Junior Springbok trials camp". South African Rugby Union. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Theron names provisional Junior Springbok squad". South African Rugby Union. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Young Kings seek Currie Cup crown". IOL Sport. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "SA Rugby Squad – EP Kings : 2016 Currie Cup Qualifying". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 50–10 EP Kings". South African Rugby Union. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  16. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 15–35 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 12–29 Griquas". South African Rugby Union. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  18. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Hino Valke 59–26 EP Kings". South African Rugby Union. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 Currie Cup Qualifying". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  20. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Sharks U21 21–23 EP U21". South African Rugby Union. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U21 44–45 EP U21". South African Rugby Union. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  22. ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 SA Rugby U21 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  23. ↑ "Journeyman Cronje joins Kings". Rugby365. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
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