Fiffy Rampeta

Rampeta was born in Bloemfontein and he represented the Bloemfontein-based Free State at various youth levels, from as early as primary school level, when he represented them at the Under-13 Craven Week tournaments in both 2007 and 2008. At high school level, he played for Free State at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week tournaments in 2010 and 2011, before progressing to their Under-18 team playing at the premier high school rugby union tournament in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week. He also played at the Craven Week on two occasions – at the 2012 tournament in Port Elizabeth and the 2013 tournament in Polokwane, appearing in all three matches in each of those tournaments. After the 2013, he was also included in a South Africa Schools squad,[2] and he played for them in one match, a 17–13 victory over their counterparts from France.[3]

After high school, Rampeta joined the Free State's youth system. He made seven appearances for the Free State U19 during the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship regular season, scoring one try in their 54–15 victory over Leopards U19[4] as his team finished in second place to qualify for the semi-finals.[5] He started their semi-final match against Western Province U19, but could not prevent his side losing 22–29 to be knocked out of the competition.[6]

At the start of 2015, Rampeta played in the Varsity Cup competition for Bloemfontein-based university side UFS Shimlas.[7] He scored a try in his only start, a 23–21 victory over NMMU Madibaz,[8] Despite being named on the bench for five matches, he only came on as a replacement in two more matches. The second of those appearances was in the final against NWU Pukke, with Shimlas winning the match 63–33[9] to win the Varsity Cup for the first time in their history. He made just a single appearance in the latter half of the season, coming on as a replacement for the final eight minutes of the Free State U21s' 60–28 victory over Leopards U21 in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship.[10]

Rampeta made two starts for UFS Shimlas in the 2016 Varsity Cup, but his side endured a disappointing season, failing to retain their title by finishing in fifth place on the log to miss out on the semi-finals.[11] He was included in the Free State XV squad that participated in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series,[12] and he made his first class debut on 9 April 2016, playing off the bench in a 32–17 victory over Namibian side the Welwitschias.[13] After further appearances as a replacement in matches against the Blue Bulls[14] and Western Province,[15] he made his first start in a 29–15 win over the Golden Lions XV.[16] He remained in the run-on side, making a further six starts throughout the competition. He scored his first senior try in his eighth appearance, a 23–14 victory over the Leopards,[17] and followed it up with another in their 33–49 defeat to the Griffons a week later.[18] Rampeta made a total of ten appearances in the competition, helping the Free State XV to finish in sixth place on the log.[19]

He made five appearances for the Free State U21 team in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship; he started the first three matches, scoring a try in their 43–26 victory over Leopards in the opening round,[20] and played off the bench in their final match of the regular season, scoring another try in a 44–45 defeat to Eastern Province U21.[21] Free State U21 finished in fourth place on the log to qualify for the title play-offs,[22] and Rampeta played off the bench in their 23–26 defeat to Western Province U21 in the semi-final.[23]

In November 2016, he was named in the Cheetahs Super Rugby team's training squad as the team prepared for the 2017 Super Rugby season.[24] It was also announced that he would join the Griffons on loan for the 2017 SuperSport Rugby Challenge series after his involvement in the 2017 Varsity Cup.[25]