Lucas "Kabamba" Floors (born 15 November 1980 in

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ) is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Dubbed the "ostrich capital of the world", Oudtshoorn is known for its ostric ...

, Western Cape) is a former South African

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer, who made in excess of 200 appearances during his playing career. He started and finished his career at the , making 33 appearances for the

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

-based outfit between 2003 and 2004 and a further 17 appearances in 2013. He spent the bulk of his career in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

, representing the in the domestic

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

and

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 ...

competitions and the in

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 ...

. His usual position is on the

flank Flank may refer to: * Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen ** Flank steak, a cut of beef ** Part of the external anatomy of a horse * Flank speed, a nautical term * Flank opening, a chess opening * A term in Australian rules football * The ...

, although he occasionally plays at number eight, and was once selected on the

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 ...

. Floors made a single appearance for the national team, the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, in 2006 and played for the national

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

team between 2003 and 2006, also captaining them in 2006.

Career

Floors' first season playing professional rugby turned out to be a memorable one; he scored 14 tries for the in the

2003 Currie Cup The 2003 Currie Cup was the 2003 season of the South African domestic rugby union competition, the Absa Group Limited, Absa Currie Cup premier division, played from 26 July 2003 – 1 November 2003. The 2003 Currie Cup saw the implementation of ...

season and 18 tries in all competitions. As of 2014, he is still the record holder of both these records for the and it also placed him joint-third on the list of most tries scored to date in the Currie Cup in a single season. During the same year he was selected for the South African sevens team, where his efforts earned him the South African Sevens Player of the Season award in 2004. The 16 tries that he scored during his sevens career placed him third on the list of most points scored by South African sevens players to date, and second on the list for most tries. After a brief stint with the in 2004, Floors returned to the Eagles before departing for the , where he has played for the next eight seasons. In late November 2006 he was called up to the Springboks end-of-season touring squad to cover for injured players. He made his debut at flank on 25 November at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Springboks ended their seven-game losing streak against the English, winning the match 25–14. Floors ended his 2006 season with the Players' Player of the Year title, and also received the Absa Currie Cup Player of the Year Award. He was named Man of the Match in the 2006

final which the Cheetahs won against the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...

. In 2008 Floors was twice left out of the Cheetah's squad for disciplinary reasons, the second time for missing a team flight back to Bloemfontein. During the same year Cheetah's coach

Naka Drotské Allen Erasmus Drotské (born 15 March 1971), commonly known as Naka Drotské, is a South African former rugby union player, who played as a hooker. He played for the South Africa national team, the Springboks, 26 times between 1993 and 1999. P ...

selected Floors on the wing for the 13 September

clash with the

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 ...

. Floors' positional versatility as a loose forward was on display in the 2009 Currie Cup season when he starred as eighthman in the match against Boland. Floors was contracted to play with the Cheetahs until the end of 2012. He then returned to the where he captained the side in 2013. He announced his retirement during the 2014 season, having made 207 first class appearances.

References

External links

Cheetahs profile
*
Kabamba Floors
on sporting-heroes.net

on SArugby.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Floors, Kabamba 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Oudtshoorn Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players SWD Eagles players Rugby union flankers South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players South Africa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from the Western Cape 21st-century South African sportsmen