Full name Michael Muller Brink Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 ⁄2 in) | Place of birth Pretoria, South Africa Weight 91 kg (14 st 5 lb) | |
Date of birth (1996-09-24) 24 September 1996 (age 20) School Hoërskool Grens, East London | ||
Michael Muller Brink (born (1996-09-24)24 September 1996 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Eastern Province Kings. He can play as a fly-half, fullback or inside centre.
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Border
Brink was born in Pretoria, but grew up in East London to represent the Border Bulldogs in youth competitions. He represented them at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in Johannesburg in 2012, scoring two tries in their match against the Limpopo Blue Bulls in a 24–19 victory. In 2013, he played at the Under-18 Academy Week tournament, scoring tries against Limpopo and the Blue Falcons and scored 19 points with the boot to achieve a personal points haul of 29 points, the joint-sixth highest at the tournament.
He again represented the Border Under-18 side in 2014, this time at the premier South African high school competition, the Under-18 Craven Week held in Middelburg. He scored a hat-trick of tries in their match against Limpopo in a 78–17 win, which also meant he scored against the same opponents in three tournaments running. He also scored a try in a 55–26 win over Griquas to end the tournament with four tries to his name, just one behind four players that top-scored with five tries apiece.
Eastern Province Kings
After school, Brink moved to Port Elizabeth to join the Eastern Province Kings academy. He was included in the Eastern Province U19 squad that participated in Group A of the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He started matches in a variety of positions – fly-half, inside centre and fullback – during the season, and was also the main kicker for the team, eventually scoring 115 points, second only to Western Province's Tiaan Swanepoel. Brink appeared in ten of their twelve matches during the regular season, scoring one try in a 26–7 win over Sharks U19, to help them to eleven victories to qualify for a home semi-final. He kicked 16 points (two conversions and four penalties) in a 31–15 victory over Free State U19 in the semi-final and his boot also proved crucial in the final, as he kicked two penalties and two conversions in a 25–23 victory to help Eastern Province win the Under-19 Provincial Championship for the first time in their history.
Serious financial problems at the Eastern Province Kings at the end of the 2015 season saw a number of first team regulars leave the union and Brink was among a number of youngsters that were promoted to the squad that competed in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series. He was named in the starting lineup for their first match of the season against the SWD Eagles, and kicked two conversions for the Kings in a 14–37 defeat.
In March 2016, Brink was included in a training squad for the South Africa Under-20 squad prior to the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, but he was not included in a reduced provisional announced squad a week later.