Nqubeko Zulu

He was born in Durban, Zulu grew up in Johannesburg. He went to Parktown Boys' High School and in 2005, he earned a call-up to the Golden Lions squad that won the unofficial final of the Under-18 Craven Week competition held in Bloemfontein.[2]

After graduating high school, he returned to Durban to join the Sharks Academy, where he represented the Sharks U19 side in the 2006 Under-19 Provincial Championship and the Sharks U21 side in the 2007 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

He was included in the Sharks' Vodacom Cup team – then called the Natal Wildebeest – for the 2008 Vodacom Cup competition and he made his first class debut in their match against the Leopards in Pietermaritzburg, coming on in the 56th minute in a 32–37 loss.[3] He also featured in their quarter-final match against Western Province, which they lost 14–22 to be eliminated from the competition.[4]

He once again played in the 2009 Vodacom Cup, with the team now called Sharks XV. He made four appearances off the bench during a regular season that saw the side win all six of their matches. He didn't feature in the play-offs of the competition and, although he featured in a compulsory friendly match prior to the 2009 Currie Cup Premier Division against the Pumas in Witbank,[5] wasn't named in any further Sharks squads.

In 2011, he was a member of the UP Tuks squad that played in the 2011 Varsity Cup competition. He started all nine of their matches in the competition as they made it all the way to the final, only to lose 16–26 to UCT Ikey Tigers in Pretoria.[6] He played more rugby with them in the Carlton League for the remainder of 2011 and returned for the 2012 Varsity Cup, but due to injury he made only two appearances in their final two matches in the regular season.

In 2012, he was included in the Pumas squad prior to the 2012 Currie Cup First Division competition.[7] He made his Pumas – and Currie Cup – debut in their 51–18 victory over the Border Bulldogs in East London in Round Five of the competition.[8] He made his first start for the Pumas (and his first start in any first class match) the following week against the Eastern Province Kings in a match that ended in a 30–30 draw.[9] After three more appearances off the bench, he again started their match against the SWD Eagles in Nelspruit and scored his first senior try in a 70–27 win.[10] One more start and three appearances as a replacement followed for the remainder of the regular season as the Pumas finished second on the log. Zulu came on as a substitute in their 37–30 semi-final victory against the Griffons,[11] as well as in the final against the Eastern Province Kings, which the Pumas narrowly lost 25–26 in Port Elizabeth.[12]

He was included in the Blue Bulls squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup and made four appearances as a replacement during the regular season of the competition, helping them to wins in each of those four matches, including a 110–0 victory over competition newcomers Limpopo Blue Bulls in Lephalale.[13]

In 2014, he joined Wanderers,[14] helping them to second position in the 2014 Golden Lions Pirates Grand Challenge to qualify to the 2015 SARU Community Cup. He started all four appearances of their matches in the pool stages, helping Wanderers to two wins, one draw and one defeat to qualify for the semi-finals.

He was recalled to the Blue Bulls squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition and made a substitute appearance in their match against the Pumas.[15] After another appearance of the bench in their 40–21 victory over the Griffons,[16] he made his first start of the competition in their 83–13 victory over the Limpopo Blue Bulls,[17] helping the Blue Bulls to finish in second position on the Northern Section log to qualify for the title play-offs. He started their 44–21 victory over the Free State Cheetahs in the quarter final[18] and in their semi-final match against Western Province, which the Blue Bulls lost 6–10 to be eliminated from the competition.[19]