Nqobisizwe Minentle 'Mox' Mxoli (born 2 February 1994) is a South African rugby union professional player for in the Currie Cup. His regular position is prop.
Mxoli was born in Durban and went to Westville Boys' High School, but wasn't selected to represent KwaZulu-Natal in any school-level rugby union competitions.
After finishing school, Mxoli moved to Pretoria to join the Blue Bulls Academy. He made seven appearances for the s in the 2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring one try in their 56âÂÂ7 victory over to help them finish top of the log after winning all twelve of their matches. They eventually won the competition, beating the 35âÂÂ23 in the final, but Nxoli didn't feature for them in the play-off stages.
In 2014, Mxoli was named in the squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition and made his first class debut in their 20âÂÂ22 defeat to the , coming on as a replacement mid-way through the second half. That was his only appearance in the competition and he linked up with the South Africa Under-20 squad as they prepared for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand. He was not named in the matchday squads for their first two pool stage matches against Scotland and New Zealand, but was included on the bench for their third match against Samoa. However, he failed to get any game time in the match as South Africa won 21âÂÂ8 to qualify for the semi-finals. He was again not named in their squad that beat New Zealand in the semi-final or the squad that lost 20âÂÂ21 to England in the final, therefore failing to play a single minute in the tournament.
Upon his return to domestic action, he played five times for the s in the round-robin stages of the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored a brace against in a 123âÂÂ7 victory to help the Blue Bulls qualify for the semi-finals, but didn't feature in the play-offs, as the Blue Bulls won the tournament, beating 20âÂÂ10 in the final.
At the start of 2015, Mxoli represented university side in the 2015 Varsity Cup. He featured in all eight of their matches - scoring tries against both Western Cape sides, the and â as they finished top of the log before suffering a 28âÂÂ29 semi-final defeat to . After the tournament, he was named as a replacement prop in a Varsity Cup Dream Team that played a match against the 2015 South African Under-20 squad, with the latter winning the match 31âÂÂ24.
Mxoli then made his first start in a first class match in the Blue Bulls' 2015 Vodacom Cup match against their affiliated sub-union, the . Mxoli took just 4 minutes to score his first senior try in the match to help the Blue Bulls to an 83âÂÂ13 victory. He was named in the Blue Bulls' Currie Cup side for the first time prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and he was named on the bench for their opening match of the competition against the , coming on as a replacement in the 62nd minute of a 57âÂÂ19 victory for the Blue Bulls. He then reverted to the side, making seven starts for them during the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A and scoring tries in their matches against the Leopards and Western Province.
In 2016, Mxoli was included in the Blue Bulls squad for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series. He started ten of his team's fourteen matches in the series and scored tries in a 16âÂÂ30 defeat to and a 42âÂÂ15 victory over the . He was also included in the squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season and he made his debut on 9 July 2016, coming on for the final eight minutes of their match against the and also appeared for the same amount of time in their next match, a 43âÂÂ17 victory over the in Bloemfontein.
In July 2016, the Blue Bulls confirmed that Mxoli failed a drugs test, after a dietary supplement that he used was found to contain a banned substance.