Ralph Nicolas Köster (22 February 1989 – 12 July 2023) was 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. He last played professionally for

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in the position of

Flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

or Eight Man. He was latterly captain of Cambridge University R.U.F.C.

Biography

Köster attended Bishops College in Cape Town and played in their First XV rugby team in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he played alongside Martin Muller and

Mathew Turner Mathew Drew Turner ("Mat" for short) (born 18 January 1988) is a South African born rugby union player who currently plays for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR). He also played rugby sevens for England on the Sevens World Seri ...

. Köster made the Western Province

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 ...

side in 2006 and 2007 when he was captain. He was called up for South Africa Schools in both 2006 and 2007.

Professional rugby

Köster made his

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 ...

debut at the age of 19, playing at 8th man in 2008, and was picked on the bench for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

side to play at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, later that year. He made 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

debut for the in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, playing on the wing, but suffered a knee injury against the at

Newlands Stadium The Newlands Stadium is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue. Various sports teams used the stadium as their home base, including: * Stormers in Super Rugby * Wester ...

which put him out of action. His full-time return to the top flight was off the bench against the on 8 August 2010. The following week, he started at openside flank (no.7) versus the . Köster had Province's highest tackle count (24 tackles) against the Blue Bulls, while his 11 ball carries was second only to

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a former South African professional rugby union player who previously played for the South Africa national team. He also previously played for Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championsh ...

and he was one of only three WP players to secure a turnover. In October 2012, it was announced that he would join

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. He scored his first try for his new club against Italian team Calvisano in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Köster joined then

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

club

on a season long loan from August 2013, which evolved into Nick earning a permanent contract with

, aiding them in their promotion to the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

in 2016. In 2014, Nick became an ambassador for

Project Zulu A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

, a UK based charity running educational development projects in the

Madadeni Madadeni is a town in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, 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 t ...

township, KZN, South Africa. During Project Zulu’s 2015 and 2016 UK Choir Tours Nick arranged for the South African choir to perform on the pitch at half time of Bristol games. He and his wife had also hosted young people from Madadeni during Project Zulu fundraising choir tours in 2015 and 2016. Prior to the 2017/18 Aviva Premiership season, Koster was one of several players released by Bristol.

University sport and study

Soon after leaving Bristol, Köster joined

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

to study an MSt in Social Innovation. He also joined the famous university's rugby team for the 2017-2018 rugby season. Bringing plentiful professional experience to the entirely amateur first team, made up of students. On 19 January 2018, Koster was named as men's captain for the Cambridge University R.U.F.C. 2018 rugby season.

Death

Köster died on 12 July 2023, at the age of 34. His cause of death was

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

while receiving mental health treatment in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Legacy

In 2024, the Cambridge University Rugby Football Club announced the Nick Koster Social Innovation Scholarship for prospective students interested in pursuing social innovation studies at Cambridge.

References

External links

Stormers profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Nick 1989 births 2023 deaths Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Bath Rugby players Rugby union number eights People from Robertson, Western Cape University of Cape Town alumni South African expatriate rugby union players in England South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Rugby union players from the Western Cape Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players 2023 suicides 21st-century South African sportsmen