Former South Africa Sevens star Cecil Afrika has sent a message to his supporters after announcing his retirement earlier this month.
The 32-year-old said “your continuous and relentless support always carried me through”, in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
The 2011 World Rugby sevens player of the year took the suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic as his opportunity to bow out of the game, playing his 66th and final tournament in Vancouver this year, having won the Los Angeles leg of the tour the week before.
He made his debut in the 2009/10 season, the year after South Africa clinched their first World Rugby Sevens Series title, and was the series’ top try-scorer the season after.
He ran the show for South Africa in the middle field during his career, and has cemented his place as a Sevens legend. In the process, he became the Blitzboks’ record point scorer, and added a further two titles to his collection.
This is what he said to his fans:
“What would the spirit and tournament experiences be without you guys?!
“You have made every match special and always edged us on from wherever you are in the World.
“I hope you enjoyed what I brought to the field in my number 10 jersey. For all the good times and the high-blood pressure moments that are all part of the game. Your continuous and relentless support always carried me through. I sincerely hope that as South African citizens, I could make you proud and leave the jersey in a better position.”
Across his career, Afrika also added a Commonwealth gold medal in Glasgow 2014, as well as an Olympic bronze medal in Rio 2016, but has been deprived of a chance of improving on that this year after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed until 2021.
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