Rugby community shocked by death of former Stormers loose forward Nick Koster

Tributes have flooded in after news that former Western Province, Stormers and Bath loose forward Nick Koster has died at the age of 34.

A schoolboy star at Bishops in Cape Town, Koster captained Western Province U18 in 2006 and 2007, also representing SA Schools in both years.

He made his senior debut for Western Province at 19 in 2008 and played for the Barbarians against Australia at Wembley Stadium later that year. In 2009, he made his Super Rugby debut for the Stormers. In total, he played 32 matches for Province and 26 games for the Stormers.

After five seasons in the Western Cape, Koster joined Bath in the English Premiership in 2012 and then joined English Championship side Bristol on an initial loan, a move that later became permanent. Koster helped Bristol earn promotion to the Premiership in 2016.

During his time in England, Koster was involved in charity work in South Africa, most notably as an ambassador for Project Zulu, a UK-based charity running educational development projects in townships in KwaZulu-Natal.

After being released by Bristol in 2017, Koster started his studies towards a MSt in Social Innovation at Cambridge University, captaining their rugby team in the famous annual Varsity match against Oxford.

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.