Nic Groom
Full name | Nicholas James Groom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 21 February 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | King William's Town, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 81 kg (12 st 11 lb; 179 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Rondebosch Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nicholas James Groom (born 22 February 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half for London Irish in Premiership Rugby.
Career[]
A winner of the Varsity Cup with UCT in 2011, Groom received a swift call up to the Stormers side at the tail-end of the Super Rugby season to replace the injured Dewaldt Duvenhage and Ricky Januarie and he made a couple of substitute appearances. The next 18 months were to see him limited to Western Province appearances and he was a Currie Cup winner with the Streeptruie in 2012. 2013 saw the departure of Duvenhage and Groom was now in a one-on-one fight with Louis Schreuder for the Stormers and Province number 9 jersey and as a result he saw much more game time. He was a Currie Cup runner up in 2013 and he largely had to make do with appearances from the substitutes bench as Schreuder stole a march in the battle to be first choice scrum-half. However, he was to become a Currie Cup winner again in 2014, this time against the Golden Lions in a season which had seen him edge ahead of Louis Schreuder both at Super Rugby level where he started 12 of 16 games in a tough campaign and also domestically where he started 7 of 9 games and scored 1 try in the process.
He signed a contract to join English Premiership side Northampton Saints at the end of the 2016 Super Rugby season and has since become a regular started for the Midlands side.[1]
Groom has been a regular feature in the Saints' starting side and was instrumental in them securing European Champions Cup rugby for the 2017/18 season, featuring heavily in both the European Champions Cup play-off games where Saints saw off both Connacht Rugby and Stade Francais to secure their spot in the competition for the following season.[2] On 3 April 2018, it was announced that Groom would leave Northampton with immediate effect to join the Super Rugby team the Lions.[3]
On 27 June 2019, Groom returned to the UK with Pro14 side Edinburgh in Scotland from the 2019-20 season.[4] He was released on 22 April 2021[5] and subsequently signed for Premiership Rugby team London Irish until the end of the 2020–21 season.[6]
International rugby[]
On 28 May 2016, Groom was included in a 31-man South Africa squad for their three-test match series against a touring Ireland team.[7] After training with the national team for a few days, he joined the South Africa 'A' squad for their two-match series against a touring England Saxons team.[8] He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Bloemfontein,[9] but ended on the losing side as the visitors ran out 32–24 winners.[10]
Super Rugby statistics[]
- As of 9 June 2020
Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Points | ![]() |
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2011 | Stormers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | Stormers | 0 | |||||||
2013 | Stormers | 9 | 4 | 5 | 371 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | Stormers | 16 | 12 | 4 | 924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | Stormers | 16 | 13 | 3 | 955 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
2016 | Stormers | 14 | 10 | 4 | 765 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | In Europe with Northampton Saints | ||||||||
2018 | Lions | 8 | 5 | 3 | 315 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | Lions | 13 | 7 | 6 | 579 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 78 | 51 | 27 | 3949 | 8 | 40 | 1 | 0 |
References[]
- ^ "DHL Stormers to bid Groom farewell" (Press release). Stormers. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ "Northampton Saints Vs Stade Francais Paris | European Cup".
- ^ "Nic Groom to leave Saints with immediate effect" (Press release). Northampton Saints. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ "Edinburgh sign South African scrum-half Groom". Edinburgh Rugby. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Duo depart Edinburgh Rugby". Edinburgh Rugby. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ "Nic Groom agrees short-term deal | 5th May 2021 | News". London Irish. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ "Squad of 31 ushers in new era of Springbok rugby". South African Rugby Union. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Ackermann to coach SA 'A' against Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Youth and experience for SA 'A' opener against Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa "A" 24-32 England Saxons". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
External links[]
- "SA Rugby Player Profile – Nic Groom". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Stormers profile
- itsrugby.co.uk profile
- Living people
- 1990 births
- South African rugby union players
- Stormers players
- Western Province (rugby union) players
- South African people of British descent
- White South African people
- Rugby union scrum-halves
- Sportspeople from King William's Town
- Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School
- Northampton Saints players