Takudzwa Ngwenya (born 22 July 1985) is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for the United States national rugby union team and Biarritz Olympique in the Top 14. He made his mark in the 2007 Rugby World Cup with tries against South Africa"Rugby World Cup Match Report, South Africa 64 USA 15. BBC News online, 30 September 2007. and Samoa.

Early career Ngwenya was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. The oldest of three boys, Ngwenya first played rugby in Zimbabwe 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 and went on to play for the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club for a few years. He was clocked at 10.5 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 national Sevens team that came first in Bangkok and the 2007 North America 4.

Professional career Ngwenya was offered a one-month trial at Saracens in England's Guinness Premiership by new coach Eddie Jones. However, he got a considerably better offer from Biarritz in France's Top 14, 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. 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, starting in 21 games and winning 7 tries. In the 2010–11 Heineken Cup 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 Ngwenya scored for Biarritz seven times in all competitions during both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. 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 statistics

+ Club statistics Club Season League Heineken Cup Amlin Challenge Cup Other Total Division Apps Tries Apps Tries Apps Tries Apps Tries Apps TriesBiarritz Olympique 2007–08 Top 14 19 8 3 2 0 0 — 22 10 Biarritz Olympique 2008–09 Top 14 21 10 6 0 0 0 — 27 10 Biarritz Olympique 2009–10 Top 14 21 7 8 6 0 0 — 29 13Biarritz Olympique 2010–11 Top 14 25 9 7 5 0 0 — 32 14Biarritz Olympique 2011–12 Top 14 19 5 6 4 3 0 — 28 9Biarritz Olympique 2012–13 Top 14 26 6 5 1 2 0 — 33 7Biarritz Olympique 2013–14 Top 14 21 5 0 0 5 2 — 26 7Biarritz Olympique 2014–15 Pro D2 21 7 0 0 0 0 — 21 7Biarritz Olympique 2015–16 Pro D2 21 9 0 0 0 0 — 21 9San Diego Breakers 2016 PRO Rugby 6 2 0 0 0 0 — 6 2CA Brive 2016–17 Top 14 13 2 0 0 7 5 — 20 7CA Brive 2017–18 Top 14 6 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 0San Diego Legion 2018 Major League Rugby 8 1 0 0 0 0 — 8 1 Total 215 69 35 18 10 2 279 96

International tries

Try Opposing team Venue Competition Date Result Score 1 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne 2007 Rugby World Cup Lost 21–25 2 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier 2007 Rugby World Cup Lost 15–64 3 Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy Test match Won 43–9 4 Mizuho Rugby Stadium, Nagoya Test match Lost 19–29 5 Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo Test match Lost 17–32 6 Infinity Park, Glendale 2010 Churchill Cup Won 39–22 7 Estádio Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon Test match Won 22–17 8 BMO Field, Toronto Test match Lost 22–28 9 Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Test match Won 34–3 10 BMO Field, Toronto 2015 Rugby World Cup Qualifier Lost 11–13 11 Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Test match Won 27–17 12 Stade de la Rabine, Vannes Test match Lost 14–20 13 Kingsholm, Gloucester 2015 Rugby World Cup Lost 18–28 14 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston 2016 Americas Rugby Championship Draw 35–35

References

External links USA Rugby Profile