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Zain Davids

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Zaïn Davids
Davids at the 2024 Olympics quarter-final
Full nameMogamat Zaïn Davids
Date of birth (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 27)
Place of birthCape Town, South Africa
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight104 kg (229 lb; 16 st 5 lb)
SchoolRondebosch Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Centre
Current team South Africa Sevens
Youth career
2013–2016 Western Province
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2020 Sharks 0 (0)
2020–2021 Sharks (Currie Cup) 1 (0)
Correct as of 28 April 2021
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 South Africa Schools 'A' 2 (5)
2015 South Africa Schools 1 (0)
2016 South Africa Under-20 8 (15)
2017–present South Africa Sevens 199 (185)
Correct as of 29 April 2023
Medal record
Men's rugby sevens
Representing  South Africa
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Team competition
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team competition
Africa Men's Sevens
Silver medal – second place 2024 Mauritius Team Competition

Mogamat Zaïn Davids (born 4 May 1997) is a South African rugby union player, that competes in both the 15-man and sevens variants of the game. He is currently contracted by the South African Rugby Union to play for the South Africa Sevens national team.[1] His regular position is in the loose-forward position, but he also played as a centre at schoolboy level.

Rugby career

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2013–2015: Schoolboy rugby

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Davids was born and grew up in Cape Town. He attended and played first team rugby for Rondebosch Boys' High School in the city,[2] and earned provincial colours on several occasions representing Western Province at youth tournaments. In 2013, he was included in their squad for the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in Vanderbijlpark,[3] scoring one try in their 50–12 victory over the Leopards.[4] In 2014, he was named in the Western Province squad for South Africa's premier schools rugby union competition, the Under-18 Craven Week, held in Middelburg.[5] He started all three of their matches and again scored one try, in a match against the Free State.[6]

He represented Western Province at the same tournaments a year later, as the team hosted the event held in Stellenbosch. Davids helped the team to reach the main match in the tournament, where they beat their Eastern Province counterparts 95–0 to become the unofficial champions.[7] After the tournament, Davids was included in a South Africa Schools 'A' squad for the Under-18 International Series held in August 2015.[8] He scored a try in his side's 29–14 victory over Italy in their first match[9] and also started in their 8–33 defeat to England four days later.[10] Davids was promoted to the senior South Africa Schools team following injuries to Ruben van Heerden and Cobus Wiese,[11] and he came on as a replacement in their final match of the series, a 23–16 victory over England.[12]

2016: South Africa Under-20 and Western Province Under-19

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After high school, Davids joined Western Province's academy, the Western Province Rugby Institute.[13] In March 2016, he was included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad,[14] and made the cut for a reduced provisional squad a week later.[15] On 10 May 2016, he was included in the final South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament to be held in Manchester in England.[16] He started all three of their matches in Pool C of the competition; after scoring two tries in their opening match, a 59–19 victory over Japan,[17] he was on the losing side in the second match, as Argentina won the match 19–13.[18] He scored another try in their final match, a 40–31 victory over France, try[19] that ensured South Africa qualified for the semi-finals as the best runner-up. Davids also started their semi-final against hosts England, but could not prevent them from suffering a 17–39 loss[20] and he was on the losing side again in the third-place play-off as South Africa lost to Argentina for the second time in the tournament,[21] ending in fourth position overall. Davids' three tries ensured he finished the tournament as South Africa's top try-scoring forward and joint-top try scorer alongside backs Manie Libbok and Edwill van der Merwe.[22]

Upon Davids' return to South Africa, he was named in the Western Province U19 squad that competed in the 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship.[23] He played in six of their twelve matches during the regular season, scoring one try in their match against the Leopards U19 team[24] en route to finishing top of the log, with ten wins and just two defeats.[25] Davids played off the bench in their 30–15 semi-final victory over Free State U19 in the semi-final[26] and started in the final, where his team suffered a heavy defeat, losing 19–60 to Golden Lions U19.[27] At the end of the season, Davids won the BrightRock U21 Bounce Player of the Year award at Western Province's end-of-year awards ceremony.[28]

2016–present: Sevens

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In November 2016, Davids was included in a South Africa Sevens Academy squad; after being included in the squad for a local tournament,[29] he earned a place in the squad that played at an International Invitational tournament that was held as part of the 2016 Dubai Sevens,[30] helping the team reach the final of the tournament.[31]

In January 2017, Davids was included in the senior South Africa Sevens squad for the 2017 Wellington Sevens tournament as a replacement for the injured former captain Kyle Brown.[32]

In 2022, He was part of the South African team that won their second Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham.[33][34][35][36]

He competed for South Africa at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[37][38] They defeated Australia to win the bronze medal final.[39][40]

References

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  1. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Zain Davids". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  2. ^ "SACS take down Rondebosch". South African College Schools. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Squad – Western Province : 2013 U16 Grant Khomo Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  4. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province 50–12 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  5. ^ "SA Rugby Squad – Western Province : 2014 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province 37–29 Free State". South African Rugby Union. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  7. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province U18 95–0 Eastern Province U18". South African Rugby Union. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  8. ^ "SA Schools and SA Schools A squads announced". South African Rugby Union. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  9. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 A 29–14 Italy U18". South African Rugby Union. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  10. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 A 8–33 England U18". South African Rugby Union. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Injuries force changes to SA Schools teams". South African Rugby Union. 13 August 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  12. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 23–16 England U18". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  13. ^ "SA Schools stars headline 2016 WPRI intake" (Press release). Western Province. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Ward to lead Junior Springboks in England". South African Rugby Union. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  17. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 59–19 Japan U20". South African Rugby Union. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  18. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 13–19 Argentina U20". South African Rugby Union. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  19. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40–31 France U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  20. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – England U20 39–17 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  21. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Argentina U20 49–19 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  22. ^ "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2016 World Rugby U20 Championship". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  23. ^ "SA Rugby Squad – WP U19 : 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  24. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards U19 5–66 WP U19". South African Rugby Union. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  25. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  26. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – WP U19 30–15 Free State U19". South African Rugby Union. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  27. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – WP U19 19–60 Golden Lions U19". South African Rugby Union. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  28. ^ "Pieter-Steph du Toit wins Stormers' MVP award". Times Live. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  29. ^ "Smith, Senatla to stretch sevens legs" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  30. ^ "Davids can add some blitz to Sevens". IOL Sport. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  31. ^ "International Invitation Men". Dubai Rugby 7s. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  32. ^ "Davids to make Blitzbok debut in Wellington". South African Rugby Union. 18 January 2017. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  33. ^ Mostert, Herman. "Team SA squad named for 2022 Commonwealth Games". news24.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  34. ^ "Soyizwapi, Plaatjies to lead SA Sevens teams at Commonwealth Games". sarugby.co.za. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  35. ^ "South Africa stun Fiji to win men's rugby sevens Commonwealth gold". the Guardian. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  36. ^ "Australia and South Africa win rugby sevens gold at Commonwealth Games". www.world.rugby. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Springbok Sevens squad named for 2024 Olympic Games". SA Rugby. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  38. ^ "South Africa - Rugby Sevens Olympic Games Paris 2024". www.world.rugby. 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  39. ^ Glover, Ben; Bone, Alyssa (27 July 2024). "Aussie devastation as captain's send-off turns clash for bronze". Nine. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  40. ^ Baloyi, Charles (28 July 2024). "Men's rugby sevens clinch Team South Africa's first medal in Paris". SABC. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
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