Waylon Murray
| Full name | Waylon Michael Murray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 April 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 101 kg (223 lb; 15 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Westville Boys High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Natal, BComm Marketing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Waylon Michael Murray (born 27 April 1986 in Durban, South Africa) is a rugby union player. He has retired from professional rugby and is now the director of sport at Kearsney College. He stands 190 cm tall and weighs in at 105 kg and plays the position of centre or wing.[1][2]
He went to Westville Boys High School where he was a prefect and head of school in 2003 and played in the 1st XV from 2002 to 2004. He was awarded an Honours blazer for Athletics in Std 9 and then Honours for Rugby in both his matric and post-matric years, also playing First XI Cricket and First Team Soccer.
Career
Sharks
During his debut season in the 2006 Currie Cup and Super 14 season for the Sharks and Sharks, Murray showed great promise as a quality centre for his provincial team. Parlaying those performances into his debut Super 14 season in 2007, Murray slowly rose to prominence as one of South Africa's leading centres, owing in no small part to his tenacity on defence and astute ball distribution skills, often, with former provincial team-mate Brad Barritt, providing a valuable link to the wings and offering stability to The Sharks midfield. Murray's stunning form saw him being selected for the Springboks away leg of the 2007 Tri Nations as the first choice centres were being rested for the World Cup. However he narrowly missed selection to the victorious South Africa squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.[3] The Murray and Barritt partnership was however disrupted after François Steyn's superb performances in the number 12 jersey for the Springboks during the 2007 Rugby World Cup. This meant that Murray had to challenge Barritt for the no. 13 shirt during much of 2008 Super 14 season, but the partnership resumed during the ABSA Currie Cup due to the absence of François Steyn and Adi Jacobs. However, with the return of the Springboks, and with Adi Jacobs' stunning form, Murray saw little game time. Murray was injured during the whole of the 2009 Super 14, and slowly began to be exposed to rugby during the Currie Cup, after a seven-month absence.
Lions
On 7 June 2010, the Sharks agreed to release him from his contract so he could join the Lions.
Kings
At the end of 2012, his Lions contract expired and he joined the Eastern Province Kings, also being named in the Southern Kings wider training group for the 2013 Super Rugby season. However, having recently undergone knee surgery,[4] he was struggling for full fitness for a large part of the campaign and made just four starts and three substitute appearances during the Super Rugby season. He also played in the second leg of the Kings' Promotion/relegation play-offs series against the Lions. He also made one appearance in the 2013 Vodacom Cup for the Eastern Province Kings, appearing as a substitute in their match against the Border Bulldogs.[5]
Bulls
After the 2013 Super Rugby season, he joined the Blue Bulls, signing a contract at the team until October 2015.[6] He failed to break into their Super Rugby squad, however, being limited to six appearances in the 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division and eight in the 2014 Vodacom Cup.
Sharks (2015)
He returned to Durban, where he linked up with the Sharks for pre-season training prior to the 2015 Super Rugby season.[7] He was released by the Sharks in November 2015.[8]
AS Mâcon
After the 2017 Super Rugby season, Murray moved to France to join Mâcon.[9]
References
- ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Waylon Murray". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "Lions player profile". Lions. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Skinstad makes SA World Cup squad". BBC. 21 July 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "Nuwe Kings gesels". Die Son (in Afrikaans). 26 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 22–30 Eastern Province Kings". South African Rugby Union. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Bulls swoop for Murray". SA Rugby Magazine. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Sharks looks to Mooar for spark". Business Day. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ^ "Training squad announcement" (Press release). Sharks. 19 November 2015. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ @LeCapSports (17 August 2017). "Waylon Murray in the colours of his new team ASM Macon. All the best in France Waylon!" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via Twitter.