Prop Simphiwe Matanzima has starred as a super sub for the Vodacom Bulls but the 25-year-old’s left shoulder is primed to carry the hit as a starter in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
Born in Komani (formerly Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, Matanzima attended Queen’s College, the school that was the starting point for the likes of Springbok internationals Dick Muir, Robbie Kempson and, more recently, Scotland’s Allan Dell.
Despite attending one of the Eastern Cape’s renowned rugby schools, Matanzima did not immediately fall in love with the game. It was only after he formed a strong bond with the coach of the school’s easygoing second XV that the loosehead prop first considered forging a career out of rugby.
Matanzima had earned the nickname ‘Beast’ as a primary schoolboy juggernaut and the Bulls recognised those traits in 2016, scouting and then signing the young Queens College front ranker.
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By 2019, his fledgling career was flourishing and he played 17 Super Rugby matches in his first full season for the Pretoria-based Bulls, where he lived up to his nickname with solid scrummaging and strong carries.
However, two successive injuries stalled Matanzima’s progress. After being ruled out with a shoulder injury early in 2020, he became the first casualty of rugby’s resumption post-lockdown when he ruptured an achilles tendon.
It was a major setback for the then-23-year-old as he was consigned to the sidelines for more than a year during which he missed the start of Jake White’s revolution, including the 2020-21 Currie Cup title and PRO14 Rainbow Cup final.
When he returned last June, Matanzima made every appearance count, helping the Bulls defend the Currie Cup title they had won in February 2021.
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In the inaugural URC season, he played in 19 out of 21 matches as the Bulls progressed to the final, and he has continued to fire at the start of the new campaign, making a solid cameo in the win over Edinburgh.
Matanzima’s injection off the bench has often coincided with a notable boost for the Bulls. Though he packs 111kg on to a relatively short 1.82m frame, Matanzima has surprising mobility and complements this athleticism in contact situations by effectively converting speed and strength into power.
“He carries and he tackles,” said White. “He’s a great rugby player.”
