Full name Simon Nord Bolze Weight 84 kg (13 st 3 lb) School Queen's College | Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 ⁄2 in) School(s) attended Queen's College | |
Born 30 July 1995 (age 21)
Queenstown, South Africa ( 1995-07-30 ) University Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Playing position | ||
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. His usually plays as a fly-half, but can also play as an inside centre.
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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.
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 – 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. He was also named on the bench for the Blue Bulls U21s' match against Western Province U21, but remained an unused replacement.
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.
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. 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. 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. He scored his first senior try in his second appearance in a 14–28 defeat against the Border Bulldogs and also started in a 31–18 win over Namibian side the Welwitschias in Windhoek a week later. However, he picked up an ankle injury during that match, which saw him miss the next few weeks of action.