Dwayne Kelly

Dwayne Kelly
Personal information
Born19 October 1991
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
School(s) attendedWestville Boys' High School
UniversityNelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Club information
Playing positionScrum-half
Current clubSWD Eagles
Youth career
2005–06Blue Bulls
2007–11Natal Sharks
2011–12Eastern Province Kings
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeam
2013NMMU Madibaz8(0)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Pts)†
2013–14Eastern Province Kings18(7)
2014–SWD Eagles12(35)
Representative team(s)‡
2013S.A. Universities1(0)
* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 3 October 2014.

† Appearances (Points).

‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 8 May 2013.

Dwayne Kelly is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the SWD Eagles in the domestic Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions.[1] His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Youth rugby

He represented the Blue Bulls Under-13 and Under-14 sides in 2005 and 2006. After he relocated to Kwa-Zulu Natal in 2006, he represented the Under-16 Natal Wildebeest in 2007, as well as the KZN Under-18 Academy team.

He captained the Westville Boys' High School first XV rugby team while he was in his matric year and played for the Natal Sharks Under-19 team in the 2010 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He also played for and captained the senior Sharks Sevens team in 2011.

Eastern Province Kings / NMMU Madibaz

In May 2012, he joined the Port Elizabeth-based Eastern Province Kings, appearing for their Under-21 team in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship.[2] He made two appearances off the bench during the regular season, but started in both their semi-final – scoring 18 of his side's points in a 67–5 victory over Griquas U21[3] – and the final, where he helped Eastern Province win the competition by beating SWD U21 24–10 in Port Elizabeth.[4] He also started their promotion play-off match against Border U21, but could not prevent the side lose 15–21 to remain in Group B for 2013.[5]

He represented Port Elizabeth-based university side NMMU Madibaz during the 2013 Varsity Cup; he was their first-choice scrum-half for the campaign, starting all eight of their matches as he helped NMMU Madibaz qualify for the semi-final of the competition for the first time in their history. NMMU Madibaz lost the semi-final 15–16 to Maties, with Kelly spending ten minutes in the sin-bin during the match.[6] His performances in the competition were noted by the South African Universities selectors and he was included in their team that a match against Namibia in May 2013.[7]

Shortly after the Varsity Cup season ended, he was also included in the Eastern Province Kings' squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition and he made his first class debut by playing off the bench in their match against the Boland Cavaliers in Malmesbury in the final round of the regular, helping his side to a 27–23 victory.[8] He also played for them in the semi-final, but ended on the losing side again as the team from Nelspruit ran out 39–13 winners.[9]

He made his first appearance in the Currie Cup competition in the opening fixture of the 2013 Currie Cup First Division season, when he started the match against the Pumas.[10] He made a total of five starts and five substitute appearances during the competition, helping them to second spot on the log. He started both their semi-final victory against the Leopards, which finished 32–29 after extra time,[11] and the final, where they lost 30–53 to the Pumas to finish the competition as runners-up.[9]

He returned to Vodacom Cup action for the EP Kings during the 2014 Vodacom Cup and he scored his first points at senior level in their match against the Border Bulldogs in Grahamstown, scoring a try just before half-time to help his side to a 60–6 victory; he also kicked a late conversion in the same match.[12] He made six appearances during the competition, but could not help them reach the quarter-finals, finishing in fifth spot on the Southern Section log.

SWD Eagles

In May 2014, it was announced that Kelly joined George-based side SWD Eagles for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.[13]

He played in all six of their matches during the 2014 Currie Cup qualification series, scoring tries in four of those matches; against the Griffons,[14] Falcons,[15] Boland Cavaliers[16] and Border Bulldogs.[17] It wasn't enough to help SWD finish top of the log and earn a spot in the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division, instead remaining in the First Division. He started all five of their matches during the regular season of that competition to help his side finish third on the log and qualifying for the semi-finals. He scored one try in their match against Border Bulldogs[18] and a brace against the Griffons in a 42–27 victory in their final match of the regular season.[19] However, SWD couldn't beat the same opposition in the semi-finals, with the Griffons winning that match 45–43 (and subsequently becoming champions).[19]

References

  1. ↑ "SARU Player Profile Dwayne Kelly". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "2012 Eastern Province Kings Under-21 Provincial Championship season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Eastern Province KIngs vs GWK Griquas". South African Rugby Union. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Eastern Province KIngs vs SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Border Bulldogs vs EP Kings". South African Rugby Union. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Match Breakdown: FNB Maties vs FNB NMMU". South African Rugby Union. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "SA Universities squad named to face Namibia". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Regent Boland Cavaliers vs Eastern Province Kings". South African Rugby Union. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Match Breakdown: Steval Pumas vs Eastern Province Kings". South African Rugby Union. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Steval Pumas vs Eastern Province Kings". South African Rugby Union. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Eastern Province Kings vs Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Eastern Province Kings vs Border Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Luiperd word dalk 'n King" (in Afrikaans). Die Burger. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Match Breakdown: SWD Eagles vs Down Touch Griffons". South African Rugby Union. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Match Breakdown: SWD Eagles vs Valke". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Boland vs SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Match Breakdown: Border vs SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "Match Breakdown: SWD Eagles vs Border Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Match Breakdown: Down Touch Griffons vs SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.