The 6'8, 120kg Scottish qualified, Nigerian lock unearthed in SA but who's now caught Edinburgh's eye
When Olujare Oguntibeju played his first game of rugby, only around 18 months ago, he was so perplexed at stealing an opposition line-out that he promptly gave the ball back.
This is the astonishing story of a Scottish-qualified, 6ft 8ins teenager lumbering around the paddocks of South Africa; a Nigerian kid taller than Eben Etzebeth and only a couple of kilograms lighter who took up the game so recently but has clubs across England clamouring to sign him.
The hulking lock might have wound up playing football or basketball were it not for his faith, but has long had his heart set on returning to Edinburgh, where he spent a dozen of his formative years. And after much deliberation he has the chance he craves – a trial with the Scottish club that will begin with a mandatory two-week quarantine upon arriving from Cape Town later this month.
Oguntibeju turned down offers from several of England’s premier teams to throw himself into training with Richard Cockerill and his Pro14 title-chasers. Scottish Rugby has suspended player recruitment as the coronavirus pandemic rages, but there is hope that a contract for the 18-year-old could emerge if he impresses sufficiently.
“I lived in Pilton in Edinburgh with my family from the age of two to 14,” Oguntibeju tells RugbyPass. “My mother tells me stories of how when I was young, I used to tell everyone I was a white kid, because there were not very many black kids in my class and I would get offended when people would call me black. But eventually, I got used to it and I didn’t see myself differently from anyone else, especially when I went to St Augustine’s High School, which was very diverse.
“I have friends there; my older brother is still in Edinburgh. I have a lot of, not actual aunties and uncles, but I see them that way, a lot of friends there that I keep in touch with.”
Having spent so long in Scotland at such a young age, Oguntibeju is Scottish-qualified – Edinburgh’s staff have confirmed as much with World Rugby. He also has a British passport and hopes to enrol in one of the city’s universities, who have fostered fruitful links with the club. Quiet, studious and devout, you get the sense he rushes into nothing. Certainly, there have been firmer offers put to him, but Edinburgh has always been his top pick.
“My parents want me to go to an environment I’m familiar with and know people,” he says. “They want to be conscious that I won’t be lonely and I’m familiar with Edinburgh, it’s my home town. I visited there in February for a few weeks – it’s changed quite a bit, I had to keep Googling to go everywhere, but I’m still familiar with the place.
“My mum is a nurse and my father is a professor – they are both highly educated. Everyone in my family must at least get a degree, so as long as I get a degree and don’t drop out of school, they will be happy. I always wanted to do law, but I am also considering physiotherapy, which would give me the opportunity to stay involved in sport after I stop playing.”
This whole business has taken off faster than a scalded pigeon. Surreal doesn’t begin to cover it. Oguntibeju did not go to a storied rugby school, but his coach, Charl Jacbos, could scarcely believe that so immense a specimen had flown under the radar in the meat-market that is South African youth rugby. Jacobs rang up Dane Galley, a prominent agent who represents Scotland centre Huw Jones and World Cup winner Makazole Mapimpi, and offers began to flood in. The genesis, though, was decidedly inauspicious.
“In my first game against PW Botha College in George, they threw it over their jumper and I didn’t know I could catch it in the line-out, so I gave it back!” Oguntibeju laughs. “They had a guy my height, but much bigger than me. Everyone was saying: ‘that’s your man, that’s your man!’ That’s the first time I’ve ever been bounced and that’s when it hit me – I must use my power.
“One thing I struggled with at first was that self-preservation, not fully committing to tackling a person, but I know I’m big and they are more afraid of me and I need to use that size to my advantage.
“I had researched rugby and watched a bit, but I had no idea of the laws, I just followed everybody around. It was only mid-season when I started to get the hang of it.
“My coach told me at the start, he took me aside and said he saw potential, and that he said he was going to try to use his contacts to get me to the top – all I had to do was train. I’ve been training ever since, he lived up to his end of the deal, and this has happened.”
There is no doubt that Oguntibeju is still extremely raw. The nuts and bolts of his game, the rucking and mauling and tactical insights, will only come with time and drilling. He must learn to be nasty, to use his natural tools with ruthless aplomb. Dipping his toes in the waters of a professional environment where size intimidates nobody will be an almighty shock. Still, Edinburgh and others have seen enough in his fledgling career to give him a crack.
“In terms of going to a new high level, I’ve always played with people older than me,” he stresses. “I’ve never really played with people my age. In Grade 10, I was playing football against Grade 12s.
“I’m really excited about it; I just want to do well and show them what I can do. I’ve just got better and better every game and learnt something every game. I am still learning, I am relatively raw, but with coaching, I just need to practice.
“I’ve always wanted to be an athlete, it didn’t really matter what sport. Football was my sport, I was a football fanatic. I played from the start of primary and it was my main focus all the way until second year in high school. Then I was introduced to basketball before rugby. Sport has always been my passion and I’ve always wanted to make it.”
Indeed, the ambitious second-row might have been a gangling centre-half had football not clashed with worship. Spartans, a famous Edinburgh club in the fifth tier of the Scottish game, wanted him to play for their age-grade teams in primary school.
“My mother said no due to the fact that they played on Sundays and I had church, and church is our number-one priority, so I couldn’t join,” Oguntibeju says.
“A basketball club in Edinburgh wanted me to join them as well but I was relocating back to South Africa at that time.”
If Edinburgh do sign him – and it is a big if – he will not be their first capture straight from school in South Africa, with the muscle-bound centre Jordan Venter arriving from Paul Roos in December.
Oguntibeju has practically lived in the gym this past year, adding nearly 30KG of beef to fill out what had been a skinny 90KG frame. Along the way, he had to reassure his mother that protein shakes were not the same as anabolic steroids. He is still bewildered at the speed with which he is being catapulted to Scotland, but yearns to seize the chance put before him.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “If you had asked me last year, I didn’t even really know what rugby was. Now I fell in love with the sport. I’ve always wanted to be an athlete and now I get the opportunity to show what I can do. I just want to show them as much as I can and let them decide whether I have what it takes to make it.”
From Pilton to the Western Cape and back again, the upshot will be fascinating.
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments