 Kockott playing forCastres Olympique | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Rory Kockott (1986-06-25)25 June 1986 (age 39) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 92 kg (203 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Selborne College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rory Kockott (born 25 June 1986) is a professionalrugby union player who plays asscrum-half forStade Français in France'sTop 14. Born inSouth Africa, he played for theFrance national team
Kockott played in South Africa for five years. He started in 2006 playing for theSharks in the2006 Super 14 season. In that season, Kockott was second choice in his position, only making one start in 12 appearances. In his debut season, the Sharks finished fifth, narrowly missing out on a semi-final berth by two points based on points difference. Later that year, he played in the2006 Currie Cup Premier Division for theGolden Lions, but was a brief stint, signing with his Super Rugby province, theSharks, for the following year. In the2007 season, he made more starts as the Sharks finished top of the table in the regular season. After making it to a South African derby final, the Sharks lost narrowly to the Bulls 20–19, despite playing at home, with Kockott coming off the bench during the match.
In the2008 Super 14 season, in all 12 matches in which Kockott played, he started. During this season, the Sharks finished third in the regular season, but were knocked out by theWaratahs in the semi-finals. For the2010 Super 14 season, Kockott signed with theLions, after failing to play in many matches for the Sharks in the previous season. The Lions finished bottom of the table in 2011, prompting Kockott to move elsewhere.
In 2011, he was signed byCastres Olympique. In his debut season in France, he helped guide Castres to theTop 14 semi-finals, where they lost to Toulouse 24–15. He started almost every match in the2012–13 Top 14 season, which was a championship victory for Castres. Kockott scored 13 of their 19 points in the final againstRC Toulonnais who had just won the European cup a few weeks ago, earning him theman of the match award.[1] His try in the final, against the likes ofJonny Wilkinson,Bakkies Botha orMatt Giteau, was one of the key moments in the final. He also finished as the league's top point scorer with 376 points, and was named player of the tournament.[2]
The year after, he helped Castres reach the final again, in a rematch against Toulon. This time, however, Toulon earned the victory 18-10.
In the 2017-18 Top 14 season, Castres finished the season 6th, clinching the last spot for the play-offs. Against all odds, the team managed to beatStade Toulousain, which finished the regular season third, in the quarter-final,Racing 92, which finished second, in the semi-final andMontpellier Hérault Rugby, which finished first, in the final. During the final, Kockott displayed a solid performance, from the first to the last whistle blow. He outplayed former teammate and rival at Sharks,Ruan Pienaar, leading Castres to a comfortable win 29-13.[3]
Some South African commentators believed South Africa should have selected Kockott before he became eligible for France in August 2014.[4][5] Even former South African coachNick Mallett urged Kockott to confrontHeyneke Meyer about playing for the Springboks.[6] In August 2014, Meyer eliminated Kockott from Springbok selection after first-choice scrum halfFourie du Preez was injured.[7]
After three years playing for Castres, Kockott qualified for to play forFrance on residency grounds. He was selected for the France squad for the2014 November internationals.[8] He made his debut on 8 November 2014, coming off the bench in a 40–15 win overFiji. He started his first game for France on 7 February during the2015 Six Nations Championship match againstScotland; France won 15–8. He was selected in the France squad for theRugby World Cup 2015.