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Gerhardus Johannes Olivier (born 17 February 1993) is a South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for the Cheetahs in the Pro14 and the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup. He regularly played as a loose-forward, but was also able to play as a lock.

Career

Youth

Olivier first represented Bloemfontein-based side Free State at high school level, playing as a lock for them at the Under-18 Craven Week competition held in Welkom in 2010, helping the Free State to a 42–21 victory over their Western Province counterparts in the main match of the competition. He again represented the Free State at the 2011 event held in Kimberley, where they were crowned unofficial champions for the second season in a row, this time beating the Golden Lions in the main match. He was also included in the Free State U19 squad, making three appearances for them in the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

After finishing high school, Olivier played as a loose forward rather than a lock; he was the starting eighth man in all twelve of the Free State U19's matches during the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring tries in their matches against SWD U19 and Leopards U19. In 2013, his only provincial action came in two appearances for the Free State U21 side during the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring one try in their match against the Border U21s.

UFS Shimlas / Free State Cheetahs

The following year, Olivier played for UFS Shimlas during the 2014 Varsity Cup. He made four appearances as a number eight during the competition as Shimlas finished fifth on the log to miss out on the semi-finals. After the Varsity Cup, he also became involved with the Free State XV in the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition. He made his first class debut by playing off the bench in a 31–3 victory over the Eastern Province Kings in Cradock. He made his first senior start a week later in a 54–17 win over the Border Bulldogs in Bloemfontein. He again represented the Free State U21 side in 2014, appearing in all thirteen of their matches in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored a brace of tries in their match against the Border U21s and scored one each in the return leg against Border U21 and against Leopards U21 as Free State finished fourth on the log before losing 17–41 to the Western Province U21s in the semi-final.

Olivier returned to action for the UFS Shimlas in the 2015 Varsity Cup competition, starting eight of their nine matches in the tournament. He scored a try in their 29–29 draw in their first match of the competition, two tries in their 57–0 victory over Bloemfontein rivals CUT Ixias, a hat-trick of tries against two-time winners UCT Ikey Tigers in a 44–24 victory and another two tries in their final match of the round-robin part of the series against the NWU Pukke in a 29–26 win to help Shimlas finish second on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. Olivier played in both their 21–10 win over UCT Ikey Tigers in the semi-final and the final against NWU Pukke, which the Shimlas won 63–33 to win the Varsity Cup for the first time in their history. Despite not scoring in the play-offs, Olivier's eight tries during the competition was still enough to make him the joint-top try scorer with Shimlas teammate Daniel Maartens. Olivier was also selected to represent a Varsity Cup Dream Team, playing off the bench in their one-off match against the South Africa Under-20 team in Stellenbosch.

Olivier returned to Vodacom Cup action for the Free State XV, making three appearances for them during the 2015 Vodacom Cup; he played off the bench in their 29–30 defeat to Western Province and their 18–19 defeat to Cheetahs franchise partners Griquas in Kimberley to finish the season in third spot on the Southern Section log. Olivier made his first start of the competition and scored his first senior try in their quarter final match against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria, but it wasn't enough to prevent them suffering a 21–44 loss to be eliminated from the competition.

Cheetahs

After the 2015 Varsity Cup, Shimlas head coach Franco Smith was appointed as the head coach of Super Rugby side the Cheetahs and he included four Shimlas players in his first match in charge against the Waratahs, with Olivier named as a replacement forward for the match.

Notes

1. According to the SA Rugby Annual 2019, Olivier featured in the 2018–19 Pro14 match against Munster. However, according to the Pro14 website, he did not make an appearance in the match. This potential appearance has been excluded from Olivier's appearance stats.

References

1. South African Rugby Annual 2019. 2019. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-620-81808-7.
2. "Wootton scores four in Munster's second bonus-point victory of the season". Guinness Pro14. 9 September 2017. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
3. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Gerhard Olivier". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State 42–21 WP". South African Rugby Union. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State 28–17 Lions". South African Rugby Union. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Toyota Free State Cheetahs 99–3 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 15–29 Toyota Free State Cheetahs". South African Rugby Union. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border 15–32 Toyota Free State". South African Rugby Union. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province Kings 3–31 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
10. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Toyota Free State XV 54–17 Border Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U21 118–6 Border U21". South African Rugby Union. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border U21 0–72 Free State U21". South African Rugby Union. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
13. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U21 39–38 Leopards U21". South African Rugby Union. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 29–29 FNB UP - TUKS". South African Rugby Union. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
15. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB CUT 0–57 FNB UFS SHIMLAS". South African Rugby Union. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
16. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 44–24 FNB UCT". South African Rugby Union. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
17. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 29–26 FNB NWU-PUKKE". South African Rugby Union. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
18. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 21–10 FNB UCT". South African Rugby Union. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
19. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 63–33 FNB NWU-PUKKE". South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
20. "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2015 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
21. "Smith takes charge of Dream Team". Varsity Cup. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
22. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Varsity Cup XV 24–31 South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Toyota Free State XV 29–30 DHL Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
24. "SA Rugby Match Centre – GWK Griquas 19–18 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
25. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 44–21 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
26. "Franco Smith takes over as coach" (Press release). Cheetahs. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
27. "Toyota Cheetahs vs Waratahs". Cheetahs. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

• South African rugby union players
• Living people
• 1993 births
• People from Ficksburg
• Rugby union locks
• Rugby union flankers
• Rugby union number eights
• Cheetahs (rugby union) players
• Free State Cheetahs players
• Rugby union players from the Free State (province)
• Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein