Frederik Johannes Zeilinga (born 11 December 1992) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player for Canon Eagles in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. His regular position is

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Career

Youth

Zeilinga represented the at Under-13, Under-16, Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 levels between 2005 and 2012.

Sharks

In 2011, he made his first class debut for them in the

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

competition in the season-opening game against the . He missed a conversion two minutes after coming on, but did convert one ten minutes later to help his team to a 30–19 victory. He made three more substitute appearances during 2011 and was promoted to first choice fly-half for the Sharks during the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, ...

competition, making a further seven starts. He also finished as top scorer in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring 154 points in his ten appearances. He also took over the kicking duties during the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

competition, where he once again scored in excess of 100 points in the season.

Sharks

He was included in the squad for their final match of the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brum ...

against the . He did appear as a substitute to make his

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut and also scored a try in a 58–13 victory.

Cheetahs

In May 2015, Zeilinga signed a contract to join

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

-based outfit the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeilinga, Fred South African rugby union players Living people 1992 births People from Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves Afrikaner people Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from KwaZulu-Natal