Coyi Banda

Masixole 'Coyi' Banda (born 11 June 1988) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Pro14. He can play as a fly-half, winger or fullback.

Career

Youth and amateur rugby

Banda played his school rugby at Ithembelihle High School, New Brighton until 2010 under the tutelage of Theo Pieterse, who guided the school to being named the School Team of the Year in 2012.

Banda was also named in the squad for the 2009 Under-19 Provincial Championship competition and played for them at Under-21 level during the 2010 and 2011 Under-21 Provincial Championship seasons, making six starts. He was also included in an side that played against the South Africa Under-20 side in 2011, scoring eleven points in a 31–16 defeat.

Banda then joined club side African Bombers. In 2012, Banda started six matches for the in the 2012 Varsity Shield competition – being named the Player that Rocks in their match against – and in 2013, he played for the Bombers in the 2013 SARU Community Cup competition, starting in four of their matches in the competition.

Eastern Province Kings

In 2014, the announced that several club players would join their wider training squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup. Banda was included in the training squad and was subsequently included in their squad for the tournament.

Banda made his first class debut against the in Grahamstown and scored two first-half tries on debut to help the Kings to a 60–6 against their Eastern Cape rivals.

After making five appearances in the Vodacom Cup competition, however, he was dropped for disciplinary reasons after he played in matches for club side African Bombers and not showing up for training sessions.