Quick Facts
Biography
Minenhle Lithuxolo Mthethwa (born 5 August 1991) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played with the Eastern Province Kings. He usually plays as a winger, but can also play as an outside centre.
Rugby career
Youth rugby
Mthethwa was born in Empangeni, and went to school in Eshowe. However, he was never selected to represent his local KwaZulu-Natal province at any national tournaments at schoolboy level.
University of the Western Cape
Mthethwa moved to Cape Town, where he enrolled at the University of the Western Cape, establishing himself in their first team. He was included in their rugby team that participated in the 2013 Varsity Shield. He scored a try on his debut in the competition, in a 42–4 victory over TUT Vikings, and a second in their 36–13 victory over UKZN Impi three weeks later. He made a total of five appearances for his team during the regular season, helping them to second spot on the log to qualify for the final against CUT Ixias. He also started the final, but could not prevent the side from Bloemfontein winning 29–19 to win the competition.
He was a key player for the team in the 2014 Varsity Shield, starting seven of their eight matches. He scored tries in matches against CUT Ixias, UKZN Impi and TUT Vikings – the second-highest try tally for a UWC player behind James Verity-Amm – in a disappointing season for UWC, which saw them finish fourth in the five-team competition, winning just three of their matches.
He made six appearances for UWC in the 2015 Varsity Shield, scoring one try in their 58–8 win over the UFH Blues as the team finished in third place, again missing out on a place in the final. He featured in all eight of their matches during the round-robin stage of the 2016 Varsity Shield. He scored a single try in their 30–5 victory over the UFH Blues, as UWC finishing in second place on the log after UKZN Impi had twelve points deducted for fielding an ineligible player in their matches. Mthethwa started the final, where UWC again ended on the losing side, with Wits winning the match 39–2, and also started in a promotion play-off match against fellow Cape Town team UCT Ikey Tigers. UWC lost the match 5–40 to remain in the Varsity Shield for 2017.
Eastern Province Kings
In August 2016, Mthethwa was contracted by the Eastern Province Kings for the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division. He made his first debut in the team's 35–49 defeat to the Blue Bulls in Pretoria, coming on as a replacement for the last quarter of an hour. He made his first start 12 days later as Eastern Province faced Griquas in a rescheduled midweek match, and made his third and final appearance of the season as a replacement in their 0–53 loss to the Sharks. The Eastern Province Kings endured a torrid season, losing all eight of their matches to finish bottom of the log.