Rugby Players That Signed For Pirates

Rugby players that signed for pirates " Career changing or should I say sports switching at a professional level is something that usual happens when one career comes to an end and with no option but tpo try luck on the other. Usually it does not work for everyone that tries that. For instance a football player switching to play Rugby. one physical sport to another. It is very unusual.

A rugby player or a soccer player can also play Golf, it is understandable and can also be attended to at the same time because of the other sport being less physical and requires less physical fitness then the other. For Soccer players completely switching to Rugby at a professional level it or visa vesa… it is very unusual. Orlando Pirates are lucky to have signed a number of former rugby players that switched to Football. These players moved sides on a pro level. "" Well some of them did not succeed on their switch but some it worked very well for them. Soweto teams Kaizer Chiefs are known for their hash reply whenever a player simultaneously make mistakes that leads to a loss or punishment by the opposition team. At some point you get yourself called “inkomo” (a cow) for your mistakes in the field of play. These are the player that switched from being Rugby players to soccer player, today I will only mention those who ended up signing for the Buccaneers.

Ayanda Gcaba Gcaba is a well know South African defender, he played for Bafana Bafana. He was signed by Orlando Pirates from Free States Stars are having an impressive season with them. He played CAF Champions League Final against AL Ahly, unfortunately they lost their second leg in Egypt. He is one of those tall defenders you would dream for, but less people knew that He switched to soccer after playing Rugby in a pro level. Gcaba was a soldier that is always prepared to die in the field for the team, unfortunately not everyone believed in his potentials.

There was a time in 2014/15 CAF AFCON games where one of our selected defenders Patrick Phungwayo got injured and coach Mashaba was expected to call one defender to join them in their fight away from home. The name of Tsepo Masilela was expected to be an “obvious” edition in the squad but surprisingly he called the most fearless soldier Ayanda Gcaba.

Thulani Hlatshwayo Bafana Bafana is set to be revealed by Orlando Pirates as he signed with them for the 2021/2022 season. Many people have seen similarities between the captain of our National Rugby team Siya Kolisi and our soccer team captain Thulani Hlatshwayo as many believe that they are identical. Hlatshwayo also played rugby but at some point He chose Soccer over Rugby and yes he have succeeded as he won some big trophies in his Soccer career compared to some who never switched.

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Here I only mentioned two, my next article will name them all and focus on those who had less game time due to injuries and had to switch careers out side sports and those are still in sports but with different roles.