Sibahle Ndiphiwe 'Rabz' Maxwane (born 14 August 1995) is a South African rugby union player for the Cheetahs in the Pro14 and the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup.[1] He usually plays on the wing.
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| Full name | Sibahle Ndiphiwe Maxwane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 14 August 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Queenstown, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb; 13 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Dale College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby career
2013 : Youth rugby
Maxwane was born in Queenstown and attended Dale College Boys' High School in nearby King William's Town, playing first team rugby for Dale College in 2013 and 2014.[2][3]
He earned some provincial colours too, when he was named in the Border squad for the 2013 Under-18 Academy Week held in Durban.[4]
2014–2016 : Western Province
Maxwane joined the Western Province Rugby Institute for the 2014 season.[5] He was named in the Western Province U19 squad for the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, but failed to make any appearances in the competition.[6] However, he did feature for a Western Province Rugby Academy XV in a match against a France Under-18 team in August 2014.[7]
He was in action for Western Province in 2015, making nine appearances in the Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored two tries in their 50–14 victory over Leopards U21[8] as his team finished top of the log after the round-robin stage,[9] but an injury ruled him out of the play-off matches[10] that saw Western Province crowned champions after beating Free State U21 in the final.[11]
He also joined the South Africa Sevens academy, where he was named in the Blitzboks wider training squad that prepared for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[12]
In April 2016, Maxwane made his first class debut, starting their 2016 Currie Cup qualification match against the Blue Bulls.[13] After another start against the Free State XV,[14] he scored his first senior try in a 27–24 victory over the Golden Lions XV in his next match.[15] He made three more starts and two appearances off the bench in the competition, scoring his second try in his final appearance for the team in a 45–17 victory over the SWD Eagles.[16]
He returned to the Under-21 team, starting all eight of their matches in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored one try against the Blue Bulls U21s[17] and two against the Golden Lions U21[18] during the regular season to help Western Province finish top of the log.[19] He scored a decisive try in a 26–23 victory over Free State U21 in the semi-finals[20] and his fifth of the season in the final, where his team fell just short, losing 34–38 to the Golden Lions.[21] He finished as his team's top try scorer, and just one behind the top try scorers in the competition, the Leopards U21s' Elden Schoeman and the Sharks U21s' Tristan Blewett,[22] and was also named the team's best back of the season at the annual awards ceremony.[23]
2017–present : Bulls
At the end of the 2016 season, the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls announced that Maxwane would join them for the 2017 season;[24] he was subsequently also included in the Bulls Super Rugby squad for the 2017 season.[25]