Michael Bernardt

Michael Rudger Gerardus Bernardt (born 19 March 1993 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played with theEastern Province Kings. His regular position is centre, but he can also play as a fly-half or winger.

Youth rugby

As a high school student at Oakdale Agricultural High School in Riversdale, Western Cape, Bernardt was selected to represent his local provincial side, theSWD Eagles, at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week competition in 2009. Two years later, he once again played for the side, this time at the Under-18 Craven Week competition held in Kimberley, scoring a try in their match against theFalcons.

In 2012, he made the move to Durban to join theSharks. He played for theSharks U19 side in the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, contributing one try in their match against former sideSWD U19. He progressed to theSharks U21 side in 2013, making a five appearances in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, but starting just one of those – their 13–36 semi-final loss to theBlue Bulls U21.

NMMU Madibaz

In 2014, Bernardt moved to Port Elizabeth to join Varsity Cup sideNMMU Madibaz. He made a big impact in the 2014 Varsity Cup competition, scoring four tries (the most of any NMMU backline player) to help his side reach the semi-finals of the competition for the second successive season.

Eastern Province Kings

After the 2014 Varsity Cup, Bernardt also made two starts for theEastern Province Kings in the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition. The first of these was a 28–21 victory over theBoland Cavaliers, which was Bernardt's first class debut. He also played in their final match of the campaign (for the first twenty minutes of the match before injury resulted in him coming off), which saw them beat the previously-unbeatenSharks XV 27–11 in Durban; this wasn't enough to help the Kings into the quarter-finals, finishing in fifth spot in the Southern Section.

He was one of 50 players named in the EP Kings' training squad prior to the 2015 season.