Solomzi "Solly" Tyibilika (23 June 1979 – 13 November 2011) 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 ...

footballer, who played as a flanker for the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

in the international

Super 14 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 ...

competition in his last years. He was the first

black person Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

to score a test try for the

South Africa national rugby union team 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 ...

Career

Tyibilika was born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

and educated at the Loyiso High School. While at high school he started playing rugby union, making his professional debut in 2001 with Griquas. Tyibilika played for Springbok 'A' in 2004. In November of that year he made his debut for the Springboks in a match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

playing at flank. South Africa won the match 45–10. He scored on his debut. He played in a subsequent test against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in Buenos Aires, which the Springboks won 39–7. Tyibilika next played for the Springboks the following season in June, where he played against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, which the Springboks won 134–3. He then played a subsequent test against the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in the

2005 Tri Nations Series The 2005 Tri Nations Series, an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, was the tenth in the series. The competition is organised by SANZAR, a consortium of the three countries' rugb ...

, which the Springboks won 33–20 at Ellis Park in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. He earned one other cap that year against Argentina in Buenos Aires in November. He was named in the Springboks'

2006 Tri Nations Series The 2006 Tri Nations Series was the 10th Tri Nations Series, an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. New Zealand won the competition with three rounds still to play after their vi ...

squad. Tyibilika was part of the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They w ...

squad that played against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

, in the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009. In the 2011 season, which would turn out to be his last, he played for Hamiltons in Cape Town. Tyibilika scored 24 tries for Griquas, Sharks, Lions and Border, appearing 158 times.

Personal life

Tyibilika was not married and had three children.

Death

Tyibilika was shot dead in a tavern in the township of

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride / our hope.'' The area was the third township to be established in Cape Town, a ...

, near

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, shortly after 2pm on 13 November 2011. Witnesses reported Tyibilika had his back turned to the entrance and was on his telephone when two gunmen fired ten rounds in the door. Tyibilika was found to be lying lifeless in his own blood on the floor after the incident. Mr Oregan Hoskins, president of SARU, said, "''Solly was a trailblazer among black African Springboks. To lose him so suddenly and in this brutal manner is very distressing. The casual disregard for life in our society is shocking.''" Hoskins also said, "''His emergence was a demonstration of what can be achieved when talent is combined with opportunity in what is always a very competitive position in Springbok rugby''". There were pleas for donations for a burial, with his last club Hamiltons offering to help his family. Sport and Recreation Minister

Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician and current Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022. He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Tr ...

told Parliament two days after the murder that Tyibilika had done his country proud.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyibilika, Solly 1979 births 2011 deaths Deaths by firearm in South Africa South African murder victims South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union flankers People murdered in South Africa Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Griquas (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Gqeberha