Pieter Dixon
Encyclopedia
Pieter Dixon is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) is a South African rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer, who plays hooker for Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
. He was educated at Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College, known locally as College, is a public school for boys situated in the city of Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa....
, and was captain of the South African Schools' rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
team in 1996. He is the nephew of Vincent van der Bijl, who represented South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
at cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
in the 1980s.
After previously playing provincial and Super 12 rugby in South Africa, Dixon signed for Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
for the 2005–06 season. He made an immediate impact when scoring a try in a Powergen Cup
EDF Energy Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the LV Cup , is an English and Welsh rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring the twelve Aviva Premiership clubs and four Welsh Regions...
game against Bristol
Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...
. Dixon is said to be a mobile hooker with good set-piece skills. His scrummaging is renowned and his lineout work garnered him praise whilst in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and now in the Aviva Premiership. Dixon signed a two year extension to his contract during January 2008, taking him through to end of the 2009/10 season. Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
announced in December 2009 that Dixon had signed a further two year extension to his contract, along with extensions for Matt Banahan
Matt Banahan
Matthew Andrew Banahan is a Jerseyman who plays rugby union for Bath in the Aviva Premiership and England in international rugby union...
and David Barnes, taking him to the end of the 2011/12 season.