Bobby de Wee

Arthur Bobby de Wee (born (1994-02-04)4 February 1994 in Klerksdorp, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Golden Lions.^[1] His regular position is lock and he occasionally plays as a flanker.

Career

Youth: Leopards and Blue Bulls

In 2010, De Wee was called up to represent the Leopards at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in Upington. He moved to Centurion the following year, resulting in him then representing the Blue Bulls at the Under-18 Craven Week tournaments in both 2011 and 2012.

He also represented the Blue Bulls after finishing school, making seven appearances for the Blue Bulls U19 side in the 2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship, in a season that saw them win all twelve of their matches in the regular season of the competition. De Wee didn't feature in the title play-offs as the Blue Bulls won the competition, beating the Golden Lions U19s 35–23 in the final.^[2]

Golden Lions

De Wee then made the short move to Johannesburg to join the Golden Lions prior to the 2014 season. He made his first class debut by playing off the bench in their 23–22 victory over the Falcons in the 2014 Vodacom Cup.^[3] After another appearance as a replacement in their next match against his former side the Blue Bulls,^[4] De Wee started his first match in an 18–33 defeat to Griquas in Kimberley.^[5] His fourth appearance in the competition came in the Golden Lions' 110–0 victory over the Limpopo Blue Bulls^[6] as the Golden Lions finished in fourth spot in the Northern Section to qualify for the quarter finals. De Wee wasn't involved in the play-offs, as the Golden Lions went all the way to the final, which they lost 6–30 to Griquas.^[7]

Despite still being at Under-20 age-level, De Wee was a key player for the Golden Lions U21s in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, starting all twelve of their matches in the regular season. He scored three tries during the season – two in their 113–3 over Border U21^[8] and another in their 31–50 defeat to Western Province a week later^[9] – to help the Golden Lions finish in third spot on the log. He appeared as a replacement in their semi-final match with the Blue Bulls U21, but could not prevent them losing 19–23 to be knocked out of the competition.^[10]

He returned to first class action in the 2015 Vodacom Cup, starting all but one of the Golden Lions' matches in the competition. He scored two of the Golden Lions' eight tries in a 53–3 victory over Namibian side Welwitschias in Windhoek on the opening day of the competition^[11] and helped the Golden Lions to finish top of the Northern Section log, winning all seven of their matches. He also started their 29–21 win over the SWD Eagles in their quarter final match^[12] and their 20–43 defeat to the Pumas in the semi-final of the competition.^[13] He once again represented the Golden Lions U21s in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A, scoring tries in matches against the Leopards U21s^[14] and Eastern Province U21s^[15] as they secured a semi-final place by finishing in fourth spot.

In October, he was included in the starting line-up for the Golden Lions in their final match of the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division season, against Griquas in Johannesburg, and subsequently made his Currie Cup debut, playing the first 69 minutes of a 29–19 victory to help the Golden Lions retain their unbeaten record in the competition.^[16]

References