Kefentse Seshego Mahlo (born ) is a 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 ...

player for the in the Rugby Challenge. His regular playing positions are winger, fullback or scrumhalf.

Early life

Mahlo was born and raised in the village of Moshate Ga-Sekororo,

Tzaneen Tzaneen () is a town situated in the Mopani district of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region. It is Limpopo's second largest to ...

. He had four siblings and played many sports in his childhood. Mahlo began playing rugby at age eight after being influenced by his older brother Kopano.

Career

Youth / Varsity Cup rugby

At primary school level, Mahlo earned provincial colours in

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, as well as representing the in the 2006 Under-13 Craven Week rugby union competition. Mahlo again represented Limpopo at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week competition in 2009 – which also earned him an inclusion in the Under-16 South African Elite squad – and played at South Africa's premier high school rugby competition, the

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...

on two occasions; he played at fullback in the 2010 edition held in

Welkom Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...

, scoring a try in their match against the and also in the 2011 edition in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, where he started all three of their matches in the scrum-half position. In 2011, Mahlo was awarded a contract by Limpopo's parent union,

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

-based side the . After representing in the 2012 Varsity Cup Young Guns competition, he represented the s in the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012 in South Africa. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participati ...

and scored five tries in twelve appearances; he scored just after half-time in his first match at Under-19 level to help his side to a 90–0 victory over and also scored in their matches against the , , and . He played in the semi-final of the competition, which saw the Blue Bulls win 46–35 against the Sharks, but did not play in the final due to injury. At the end of the season, Mahlo was invited to join a South African Under-20 training camp in preparation for the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth, IRB Junior World Championship, an annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twe ...

in France, but missed out on final selection. In 2013, Mahlo once again represented the , helping them to winning the 2013 Varsity Cup Young Guns competition, their second in a row. He also broke into the set-up, making ten appearances during the

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven p ...

. He scored one try in their match against the and once again helped his side progress to the final of the competition. He started the final but could not prevent his side losing 23–30 to . Mahlo represented ' first team in the

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-u ...

competition, playing in all seven of their matches as they finished in fifth spot to miss out on a semi-final spot. After making his first class debut during the 2014 Vodacom Cup, he returned to the side for the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

. He scored two tries in their first match of the season, a 143–0 win over in Pretoria, and repeated his two-try haul against the same opposition later in the season, with the Blue Bulls running out 123–7 winners in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. He also scored one try in each of their matches against the s to help them reach the final of the competition. He played the full 80 minutes of the final, with the Blue Bulls beating 20–10 to avenge the 2013 final defeat.

Blue Bulls

Mahlo made his first class debut for the during the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from th ...

competition, coming on as a second-half replacement in their match against the in

and helping the side to a 49–0 victory. He scored his first senior try in their next match, getting one of eighteen tries in their 116–0 demolition of Mahlo's former side, the . He made a third substitute appearance in their 15–16 loss to the in the semi-final of the competition. Mahlo returned to 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 ...

side for their 2015 campaign. After appearances off the bench against the and the in their opening two matches of the season, he also came on as a replacement in their match against trans- Jukskei rivals the and scored both tries for the Blue Bulls in a 12–24 defeat. He was elevated to the starting line-up for the first time for their next match, a 20–18 win over

Nelspruit Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...

-based side the . Mahlo made a total of three starts and six appearances off the bench in the Blue Bulls' 2015 Vodacom Cup campaign, helping them all the way to the semi-final of the competition, where they lost 6–10 to . Mahlo ended the season with six tries to his name, the top try scorer for the Blue Bulls, and he received the Vodacom Cup Players' Player of the Year award at the Blue Bulls' end-of-years awards ceremony in December 2015.

References

External links

Profile and statistics - Romanian League - Mahlo Kefentse Seshego
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahlo, Kefentse South African rugby union players Living people 1993 births Rugby union players from Tzaneen Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Blue Bulls players Rugby union players from Limpopo Bulls (rugby union) players CSM Știința Baia Mare players Expatriate rugby union players in Romania 21st-century South African sportsmen