Gerhard Olivier

Gerhard Olivier
Gerhardus Johannes Olivier (born 17 February 1993) is a South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for the in the Pro14 and the in the Currie Cup. He regularly played as a loose-forward, but was also able to play as a lock.
Career
Youth
Olivier first represented Bloemfontein-based side Free State at high school level, playing as a lock for them at the Under-18 Craven Week competition held in Welkom in 2010, helping the Free State to a 42–21 victory over their Western Province counterparts in the main match of the competition. He again represented the Free State at the 2011 event held in Kimberley, where they were crowned unofficial champions for the second season in a row, this time beating the Golden Lions in the main match. He was also included in the squad, making three appearances for them in the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship.
After finishing high school, Olivier played as a loose forward rather than a lock; he was the starting eighth man in all twelve of the 's matches during the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring tries in their matches against and . In 2013, his only provincial action came in two appearances for the side during the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring one try in their match against the s.
UFS Shimlas / Free State Cheetahs
The following year, Olivier played for during the 2014 Varsity Cup. He made four appearances as a number eight during the competition as Shimlas finished fifth on the log to miss out on the semi-finals. After the Varsity Cup, he also became involved with the in the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition. He made his first class debut by playing off the bench in a 31–3 victory over the in Cradock. He made his first senior start a week later in a 54–17 win over the in Bloemfontein. He again represented the side in 2014, appearing in all thirteen of their matches in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored a brace of tries in their match against the s and scored one each in the return leg against and against as Free State finished fourth on the log before losing 17–41 to the s in the semi-final.
Olivier returned to action for the in the 2015 Varsity Cup competition, starting eight of their nine matches in the tournament. He scored a try in their 29–29 draw in their first match of the competition, two tries in their 57–0 victory over Bloemfontein rivals , a hat-trick of tries against two-time winners in a 44–24 victory and another two tries in their final match of the round-robin part of the series against the in a 29–26 win to help Shimlas finish second on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. Olivier played in both their 21–10 win over in the semi-final and the final against , which the Shimlas won 63–33 to win the Varsity Cup for the first time in their history. Despite not scoring in the play-offs, Olivier's eight tries during the competition was still enough to make him the joint-top try scorer with Shimlas teammate Daniel Maartens. Olivier was also selected to represent a Varsity Cup Dream Team, playing off the bench in their one-off match against the South Africa Under-20 team in Stellenbosch.
Olivier returned to Vodacom Cup action for the , making three appearances for them during the 2015 Vodacom Cup; he played off the bench in their 29–30 defeat to and their 18–19 defeat to franchise partners in Kimberley to finish the season in third spot on the Southern Section log. Olivier made his first start of the competition and scored his first senior try in their quarter final match against the in Pretoria, but it wasn't enough to prevent them suffering a 21–44 loss to be eliminated from the competition.
Cheetahs
After the 2015 Varsity Cup, Shimlas head coach Franco Smith was appointed as the head coach of Super Rugby side the and he included four Shimlas players in his first match in charge against the , with Olivier named as a replacement forward for the match.
Notes
References
South African rugby union players
Living people
1993 births
People from Ficksburg
Rugby union locks
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union number eights
Cheetahs (rugby union) players
Free State Cheetahs players
Rugby union players from the Free State (province)