Tango Balekile

Tango Balekile

Date of birth	(1996-03-07) 7 March 1996
Place of birth	East London, South Africa
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight	109 kg (240 lb; 17 st 2 lb)
School	Selborne College
University	Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker Current team [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] Youth Career 2012–2014 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 2015–2017 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2016 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 3 (0) Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2016–2019 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 24 (15) 2017–2020 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 19 (0) 2021 [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 3 (0) 2022– [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] 0 (0) Correct as of 10 July 2022 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2016 South Africa Under-20 5 (0) Correct as of 23 April 2018

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Tango Balekile (born 7 March 1996) is a South African rugby union player for the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] in the Pro14 and the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is hooker.

Rugby career

2012–14: Schools rugby

Balekile was born in East London and also grew up there, attending Selborne College. He captained and played rugby for them which resulted in a number or provincial call-ups to represent the Border Rugby Union at various tournaments. In 2012 he played for their Under-16 team at the Grant Khomo Week held in Johannesburg, in 2013 he played for their Under-18 team at the Academy Week held at Glenwood High School in Durban and in 2014, he captained and played for their Craven Week team at the tournament held in Middelburg.

2015: Eastern Province Under-19

Prior to the 2015 season, Balekile moved to Port Elizabeth to join the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] academy. He was included in the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] squad that competed in Group A of the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He played off the bench in their first two matches of the season and scored a try for the team in the second of those, a 41–24 win over [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]. After starting against [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] and appearing as a replacement against [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]], he then firmly established himself as their first-choice hooker, starting their remaining eight matches during the regular season. Eastern Province won eleven of their twelve matches to finish top of the log and to qualify for a home semi-final. Balekile started their 31–15 victory over [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] in the semi-final and the final, in which his side beat the Blue Bulls 25–23 in Johannesburg to win the competition for the first time in their history.

2016: Eastern Province Kings, NMMU Madibaz and South Africa Under-20

At the start of 2016, Balekile played rugby for university side [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] in the Varsity Cup competition. He started in a close match, a 25–27 home defeat to [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]], he played in two more matches as NMMU finished second-last on the log.

In March 2016, he was included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad, also making the cut for a reduced provisional squad named a week later. In between training with the team, he returned to the Eastern Province Kings to make a single appearance for them in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series, making his first class debut in a 14–28 loss to Eastern Cape rivals the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]. 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, England. He started their opening match in Pool C of the tournament as South Africa came from behind to beat Japan 59–19, and also started their next pool match as South Africa were beaten 13–19 by Argentina. He dropped to the bench for their final pool match, coming on shortly after half-time as South Africa bounced back to secure a 40-31 bonus-point victory over France to secure a semi-final place as the best runner-up in the competition. He was restored to the starting line-up for the semi-final, as South Africa faced three-time champions England. The hosts proving too strong for South Africa, knocking them out of the competition with a 39–17 victory. Balekile was again named on the bench against, due to injury Argentina for the third-place play-off match, again coming on just after half-time as Argentina beat South Africa – as they did in the pool stages – convincingly winning 49–19 and in the process condemning South Africa to fourth place in the competition.

References

Template:Pumas squad

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