Gcobani Bobo (born 12 September 1979) is a former

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n rugby player, rugby commentator and author. His preferred position was

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, although he had played

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

on numerous occasions, with some success due to his pace. Bobo played for the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (), currently known as the Fidelity ADT Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons, are a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup. The team is governed by the Golden ...

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

and the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

Career

Bobo started his career as a flanker, until then Bok coach

Nick Mallet Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was th ...

suggested that Bobo should shift from the side of the scrum to the midfield. Bobo was selected for the South African U-19 side in 1998 and then spent two years playing for the

U-21 outfit. His performances in the then Bankfin Currie Cup earned him selection to the SA 'A' team in 2001. When he was elevated to

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

, he was ready. The burly centre scored a hat-trick on debut against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

, and looked set for full

Springbok colours Springbok colours is the name given to green and gold blazers awarded to members of the South Africa national rugby union team. They were historically awarded to teams and individuals representing South Africa in international competition of any ...

before a knee injury at the House of Pain put paid to his short-term ambitions. Bobo had been named in

Rudolf Straeuli Rudolf August Wilkens Straeuli (born 20 August 1963) is a South African rugby union administrator, and a former player and coach. He is currently the CEO of the Lions Rugby Company. He played in the positions of flanker and Number 8, making 1 ...

's squad for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, but a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a warm-up encounter put paid to his chances of selection.

Jake White Jacob Charles White (born 13 December 1963 as Jacob Westerduin) is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 ...

realised Bobo's potential and tested him on the Vodacom Outgoing Tour in 2004. But Bobo had lost some of his enthusiasm and he lacked pace. Given a second chance by

Rassie Erasmus Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Springboks, the South African national team, currently in his second stint in charge of the team. Erasmus ...

, Bobo returned home to the Cape to play for the

Super 14 team and has rediscovered the form that made him a Bok, partnering

Jean de Villiers Jean de Villiers (born 24 February 1981) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He started his career at wing, but played most of his career as an inside centre. De Villiers previously played for Western Province in th ...

. At the conclusion of the 2009 season, like de Villiers, Bobo left, signing for an overseas team,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobo, Gcobani South Africa international rugby union players 1979 births Living people Rugby union players from Qonce Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Western Province (rugby union) players Stormers players South Africa international rugby sevens players Newcastle Falcons players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Alumni of Dale College Boys' High School South African expatriate rugby union players in England South African rugby union players