Simon Bolze

Simon Nord Bolze (born (1995-07-30)30 July 1995 in Queenstown, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Eastern Province Kings.^[1] His usually plays as a fly-half, but can also play as an inside centre.

Rugby career

2011–13: Schoolboy rugby / Border

Bolze was selected to represent his local provincial union, Border, on two occasions at high school level; he played for them at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2011, and also at the premier South African high schools rugby union tournament, the Under-18 Craven Week held in Polokwane in 2013, where he contributed 13 points with the boot in their 38–20 victory over Namibia.^[2]

2014: Blue Bulls

After high school, Bolze moved to Pretoria where he joined the Blue Bulls academy. He started four matches for the Blue Bulls U19s in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship and played off the bench in three more matches. He scored 47 points in his seven appearances – the eighth-most in Group A of the competition and the third-highest for the Blue Bulls^[3] – which included a personal haul of 16 points in a match against the Leopards U19s, which also saw him score his only try in the competition.^[4] He was also named on the bench for the Blue Bulls U21s' match against Western Province U21, but remained an unused replacement.^[5]

2015–: Eastern Province Kings / NMMU Madibaz

For 2015, Bolze returned to the Eastern Cape, joining the Port Elizabeth-based Eastern Province Kings. He made six appearances for the Eastern Province U21 team in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A, their first season at that level after winning promotion from Group B in 2014. After starting the first five matches in a row, kicking 16 points, he missed several matches through injury before returning for one more match against his former side, the Blue Bulls U21s.^[6]

In 2016, he started the season by playing Varsity Cup rugby with the local university team, the NMMU Madibaz. He made six appearances for the team – starting five of those – and kicked 21 points. It was a disappointing season overall, though, as the team finished second-bottom on the log.^[7] After the 2016 Varsity Cup, Bolze was one of several youngsters that were included in the Eastern Province Kings squad that competed in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series.^[8] He made his first class debut in their second match of the season, starting against the Boland Cavaliers and kicking one conversion in an 18–37 defeat.^[9] He scored his first senior try in his second appearance in a 14–28 defeat against the Border Bulldogs^[10] and also started in a 31–18 win over Namibian side the Welwitschias in Windhoek a week later.^[11] However, he picked up an ankle injury during that match, which saw him miss the next few weeks of action.^[12]

References