1. Tonderai Chavhanga
Tonderai Chavhanga was born in 24th December,1983 in Masvingo (Zimbabwe). He is a South African rugby union player. Chavhanga has played for the national team, the Springboks, being capped once in 2005. He plays for the Stormers in the international Super 14 competition. Tonderai Chavhanga will be leave Cape Town in 2010 after he signed a two-year contract with the Lions on in September 2009.
Tonderai Chavhanga was raised by his mother, who had a strong influence on his religious views. His mother worked in construction and built the house in which he grew up. Although poor his mother supported him financially and was the biggest influence on him. His father played very little role in his life, as he remarried and was uninvolved in his up bringing. Tonderai Chavhanga attended Prince Edward High School in Zimbabwe on a scholarship. He was the youngest player in the history of the school to play for the school's first team.
2. Marika Vunibaka
Marika "Dawainavesi" Vunibaka was born in 3 November 1974. He is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He has represented the national team on numerous occasions, including at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. He represented Fiji at rugby sevens level from 1997–2008 and is one of the few sevens players to play in 3 Rugby World Cup Sevens, 1997, 2001 and 2005. His team won the World Cup in both 1997 and 2005 where he was the top try scorer in the 1997 world cup. He played for the New Zealand team the Crusaders in the international Super 12 competition and Canterbury in the N.P.C. He scored 35 tries out of the 50 Matches for Crusaders. He made his Test debut for Fiji in a match against Canada in Vancouver. He was then included in the Fijian squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, where he scored a try in the pool match against Canada. He was included in their 2003 Rugby World Cup squad, and scored a try in the win over Japan. Ranked as one of the quickest men to play for the Canterbury Crusaders alongside the likes of Vilimoni Delasau, Rico Gear and new speedster Sean Maitland.
3. Jongie Nokwe (Chasing)
Jongikhaya "Jongi" Nokwe was born in 30 December 1981. He is a South African rugby union footballer. He plays as a winger for the Springboks at international level, the Central Cheetahs franchise in the Super 14 tournament, and the Free State Cheetahs in the domestic Currie Cup competition. He has also represented Boland Cavaliers and the Stormers.
4. Rupeni Caucaunibuca
Rupeni Caucaunibuca born in 5th June 1980. He is called by those who knew him as "Rups". Caucaunibuca's father was a church minister based around the Bua province on the northern parts of Fiji. So his family frequently moved. He is a Fijian rugby union footballer.
Caucaunibuca was a keen rugby player in his youth as he began to show his skills, pace and athleticism during the afternoon touch rugby on his village ground. Caucaunibuca went to Bucalevu, a prominent school in Taveuni after completing his primary education at Kubulau District School in Bua. He took athletics and would often participate in the sprint event. His talent was recognized during secondary school trials at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School grounds. Caucaunibuca went on to represent the Bua Rugby team at the B Division championship but lost to Ovalau in the semi final. Ovalau went on to the premier competition. Caucaunibuca caught the eye of the Fiji selectors and coach, the late Rupeni Ravonu at one of the local 7's competition in early 2000 and he selected the youngster to his Police team. Caucau excelled from there and later was rewarded and named in the Fiji sevens team, and his first time to travel overseas.
Rupeni "Caucau" Caucaunibuca is one of them. Undoubtedly one of one of the most exciting wingers of his generation he has battled disciplinary trouble, weight issues and drug abuse prompting comparisons with former footballer Diego Maradonna. Unlike Maradonna however, Caucau has never really made it to the top of his game and properly utilised the talent with which he has been blessed. At 30 years of age he has only featured in 7 international games, a dozen Super 14 games and 10 Heineken Cup appearances. That's really not much top flight rugby. And therein lays the reason that he has such harsh critics. He could have been one of the best. As a 22 year old Caucau set the world alight in 2003 Rugby World Cup. That season set down a benchmark that Caucau would never match again. 8 tries in 8 appearances for the Auckland Blues and a further 8 tries in 4 caps for Fiji was an incredible record but it was not just the amount of tries he scored but how he scored them that made people sit up and take note of him. He moved to France the following season where he joined the Agen and wowed the people of Europe for 2 years. But his fall from grace began here in Agen still in his early 20s. He continually arrived late for training camps both internationally and for Agen, citing illness to his family and to himself as reasons for this. Shortly before the 2007 World Cup he tested positive for drug use and was suspended by the IRB.
He began to perform badly and the club got relegated and spent the next 3 years playing second tier rugby getting progressively heavier. He had offers from other clubs but was not punctual for the trials. Leicester Tigers invited him twice but he never turned up on time. It was a similar story with Racing Metro. "The club booked his flight but he said he did not have enough money. I personally sent him money but instead he stayed back in Labasa and refused to come over," said his former international team mate Sireli Bobo who plays for Metro. Bobo said Metro Racing had twice paid for air tickets for Caucaunibuca to fly to France from Fiji and on one occasion he had offered to personally escort him but Caucau had not appeared. He returned back to Agen but ended up being sacked as his team mates and management no longer trusted him. He was eventually signed by Toulouse to replace one of their injured centres. Now he weighs in at over 18 stone despite being only 5 foot 10. To his credit however he has been able to adapt his game slightly to accommodate his extra bulk. Below you can find clips from Caucau's wonder season in 2003 and also showing him using his new found bulk with Toulouse.
He began to perform badly and the club got relegated and spent the next 3 years playing second tier rugby getting progressively heavier. He had offers from other clubs but was not punctual for the trials. Leicester Tigers invited him twice but he never turned up on time. It was a similar story with Racing Metro. "The club booked his flight but he said he did not have enough money. I personally sent him money but instead he stayed back in Labasa and refused to come over," said his former international team mate Sireli Bobo who plays for Metro. Bobo said Metro Racing had twice paid for air tickets for Caucaunibuca to fly to France from Fiji and on one occasion he had offered to personally escort him but Caucau had not appeared. He returned back to Agen but ended up being sacked as his team mates and management no longer trusted him. He was eventually signed by Toulouse to replace one of their injured centres. Now he weighs in at over 18 stone despite being only 5 foot 10. To his credit however he has been able to adapt his game slightly to accommodate his extra bulk. Below you can find clips from Caucau's wonder season in 2003 and also showing him using his new found bulk with Toulouse.
5. Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana full name is Bryan Gary Habana. He has born in 12 June 1983 in Benoni, Transvaal. He is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super 14, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks. Habana was one of the stars of the World Cup, his eight tries equalling the record set by Jonah Lomu in 1999, and was named the 2007 IRB Player of the Year.
Named after former Manchester United footballers Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey, he played outside centre and scrumhalf in provincial and age group rugby, but once he was moved to the wing a vast improvement was seen. Prior to his first year of Super Rugby he was selected for the Springboks, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball in test rugby in the end-of-season match against England at Twickenham in 2004. Habana won international acclaim for his championship-winning try in the 2007 Super 14 final, as one sportswriter put it: "It was one of the most amazing finales to a major game ever seen Habana's swerving run was brilliant." Habana became an international rugby superstar in his own right with his record equaling 8 tries in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
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| Bryan Habana from the Stormers battles during the Super Rugby match between DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls at DHL Newlands on June 11, 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa. |
Named after former Manchester United footballers Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey, he played outside centre and scrumhalf in provincial and age group rugby, but once he was moved to the wing a vast improvement was seen. Prior to his first year of Super Rugby he was selected for the Springboks, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball in test rugby in the end-of-season match against England at Twickenham in 2004. Habana won international acclaim for his championship-winning try in the 2007 Super 14 final, as one sportswriter put it: "It was one of the most amazing finales to a major game ever seen Habana's swerving run was brilliant." Habana became an international rugby superstar in his own right with his record equaling 8 tries in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Habana, developed by the Golden Lions and educated at King Edward VII School and Rand Afrikaans University (now known as the University of Johannesburg), made his first senior international appearances as a member of the South African Sevens side in the 2003–04 World Sevens Series. He made his Currie Cup debut for the Lions in 2004, doing well enough to be voted the country's most promising player that year. That November, he made his Test debut against England at Twickenham as a 21-year-old. Though the game was lost 32–16, Habana came on as a reserve to score a try on debut against the then world champions. The following week Habana was moved into the starting line-up, where he contributed two tries to the 45–10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield. The next week, he was selected in the same position, on the left wing, in that year's final match against Argentina in Buenos Aires. Although he did not score any tries in the Argentina game, his current record stood at three tries from three tests.
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