| Date of birth | (1991-11-26)26 November 1991 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Fort Beaufort,South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb; 12 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Eyabantu High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Fort Hare | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Oliver Zono (born 26 November 1991) is a South Africanrugby union player for theEastern Province Elephants in theCurrie Cup and in theRugby Challenge.[1] His regular position is fly-half. As of 2020 he plays forKrasny Yar Krasnoyarsk in Russia.
Zono was born and grew up inFort Beaufort. He played youth rugby for theBorder U19 team in the 2009 and 2010 Under-19 Provincial Championships, before representing theUniversity of Fort Hare in theVarsity Shield competition in2013 and2014.
He made his first class debut for theBorder Bulldogs in the2014 Vodacom Cup, coming on as a replacement in their match against theFree State XV inBloemfontein,[2] before making his first start a fortnight later in their match against theBoland Cavaliers.[3] He made five appearances in the2014 Currie Cup qualification series – scoring his first senior try in a 40–54 defeat to theFalcons inKempton Park.[4] – and two further appearances in theCurrie Cup First Division.
He established himself as a regular in the Border team, finishing the2014 Currie Cup First Division competition as his team's top scorer, despite making just two appearances. He scored 17 points (one try and 12 points with the boot) in a 30–32 defeat to theLeopards,[5] and 14 points in his next match – a 44–20 win over theBoland Cavaliers – via two tries and two conversions.[6] He remained with theEast London-based team until 2017, making a total of 44 appearances in four seasons.
In August 2017, thePort Elizabeth-basedSouthern Kings franchise announced that they signed Zono for the2017–18 Pro14 season, their first campaign in the competition after losing theirSuper Rugby membership.[7] He made his debut in that competition as a replacement in their Round Two match againstConnacht inGalway,[8] and started their next match at home toLeinster.[9] He made a total of nine appearances in his debut season, kicking seven conversions and three penalties for a personal points haul of 23 points.