| Intro | South African rugby union player |
| Is |
Athlete Rugby union player |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
25 June 1986, East London |
| Age | 34 years |
Rory Kockott (born 25 June 1986 in East London, South Africa) is a South African-born French international rugby union player, who attended Selborne College. He currently plays for Castres Olympique after signing from the Sharks in the Super Rugby competition. He plays as a scrumhalf.
Career
South Africa
Kockott played in South Africa for 5 years. He started in 2006 playing for the Sharks in the 2006 Super 14 season. In that season, Kockott was second choice in his position, only making 1 start in 12 appearances. In his debut season, the Sharks finished 5th, narrowly missing out on a semi-final berth by 2 points based on Points difference. Later that year, he played in the 2006 Currie Cup Premier Division for the Golden Lions, but was a brief stint, signing with his Super Rugby province Sharks for the following year. In that season (2007 Super 14 season), he made more starts in a season of which 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 19–20, despite the Sharks being at home. Kockott made an appearance off the bench during this match.
In the 2008 Super 14 season, in all 12 matches he played in, he started. During this season, the Sharks finished third in the regular season, but was knocked out by the Waratahs in the semi-final. For the 2010 Super 14 season, he signed with the Lions 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 else where.
France
In 2011 he was acquired by Castres Olympique. In his debut season in France, help guide Castres to Semi-final, but losing to Toulouse 24–15. In his second season with Castres, he continued to develop in to what the French call a ‘General’, causing much optimism in France for him to play for France. He started almost every match in the 2012–13 Top 14 season, which was a Championship victory for Castres. Kockott scored 13 out of the 19 points scored in the Final, earning him Man-of-the match. He also finished as top point scorer with 376-point, and was named player of the tournament.
The media believed the Springboks would miss out, if not selecting Kockott before he became eligible for France in August 2014. Even former South African coach Nick Mallett urged Kockott to confront Meyer about playing for the Springboks. In August 2014, Heyneke Meyer eliminated Kockott from Springbok selection after first choice scrum half, Fourie du Preez was injured.
After serving his three-year residency in France, and after three years of form playing, he was selected for the France national squad for the 2014 November internationals. On 8 November 2014 he debuted off the bench in the 40–15 win over Fiji. He made his run on debut on 7 February during the 2015 Six Nations Championship match against Scotland. France won 15–8.