Takudzwa Ngwenya (born 22 July 1985) is a former

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 who played 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 ...

for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

and

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

. He made his mark in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

with tries against

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 ...

and Samoa.

Early career

Ngwenya was born in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. The oldest of three boys, Ngwenya first played rugby in

for the Mashonaland Club and for Vainona High School, from which he graduated in 2003. After moving to the United States, he played for the Plano Rugby Club in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

and went on to play for the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club for a few years. He was clocked at 10.

hand time for the 100 m dash. DARC Rugby sent him to play for the Texas Select Side and the USA Under 19 national team, then the USA national rugby union team (sevens), national Sevens team that came first in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and the

2007 North America 4 The 2007 North America 4 was the second North America 4 rugby tournament. Each of the four teams played each other five times in round-robin play. Round-Robin Standings External linksOfficial website {{DEFAULTSORT:North America 4 2007 ...

Professional career

Ngwenya was offered a one-month trial at

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

in England's

Guinness 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 ...

by new coach Eddie Jones. However, he got a considerably better offer from

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

in France's

, initially signing a two-year contract with them on 6 November 2007. Between 2007 and 2016 Ngwenya played regularly for Biarritz, as a winger. Ngwenya scored 2 tries in the 2007-08 Heineken Cup. In the 2009–10 Heineken Cup he helped the club make their first final since the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He scored 6 tries in the competition which placed him as joint second top try scorer. Ngwenya also had a stellar year in the

2009–10 Top 14 season The 2009–10 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It began on August 14, 2009 with a match between Toulon and Stade Français at Stade Mayol in Toulon, and continu ...

, starting in 21 games and winning 7 tries. In the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 w ...

Ngwenya scored 5 tries, again tying for second. During the 2011–12 Top 14 season Ngwenya collected five tries in the Top 14 and added 4 more in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

Ngwenya scored for Biarritz seven times in all competitions during both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. ST vs BO - 2013-09-14 - 08

After a season with the San Diego Breakers in the inaugural PRO Rugby season Ngwenya headed back to France and the Top 14 after signing with

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze, Corrèze department. Brive is a historical member of French rugby un ...

Club statistics

International tries

References

External links

USA Rugby Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngwenya, Takudzwa 1985 births Rugby union players from Harare Alumni of Vainona High School Zimbabwean rugby union players Biarritz Olympique players World Rugby Awards winners Living people Rugby union wings Zimbabwean emigrants to the United States Expatriate rugby union players in France United States international rugby union players Zimbabwean expatriate rugby union players Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate rugby union players American expatriate sportspeople in France United States international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players San Diego Breakers players San Diego Legion players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players CA Brive players American sportspeople of Zimbabwean descent