Radebe was born in Johannesburg and represented the Golden Lions at national youth competitions since primary school level, when he participated at the Under-13 Craven Week in 2008. He also earned selection during high school level, representing the Golden Lions at the 2011 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and at the Under-18 Craven Week in both 2012 and 2013.
Sharks / UKZN
Radebe signed a deal to join the Durban-based Sharks academy after finishing high school. He made one appearance for the Sharks U19s in 2013 in a 38–0 victory against Western Province U19[7] prior to joining them on a full-time basis. In 2014, he started eleven of the team's matches in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship and scored 122 points, second only to Western Province's Ernst Stapelberg in the top scorers list in Group A of the competition.[8] He scored four tries – three in their two matches against former side Golden Lions[9][10] and a fourth against Eastern Province,[11] to help the side progress to the semi-finals, where they lost 20–43 to the Blue Bulls.[12]
Radebe made four appearances for UKZN Impi during the 2015 Varsity Shield, scoring 44 points on the way, and picked up a "Player That Rocks" award in the finals,[6] where he helped UKZN to silverware by beating Wits 29–24.[13] Less than a week after the final, he was also included in the Sharks XV squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition and made his first class debut in a defeat to a Free State XV.[14] After another match in the Vodacom Cup against the SWD Eagles,[15] he played in a match for a Varsity Cup Dream Team – with Radebe being only player from the second-tier Varsity Shield to be included[16] – against the South Africa Under-20 squad as the latter prepared for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, kicking one conversion in a 24–31 defeat.[17] Radebe was initially included in Coach Dawie Theron's squad to contest the Junior World Cup in Italy before withdrawing through injury
Radebe next played for the Sharks U21 side in their 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A season. He made ten starts during the competition, scoring six tries and 105 points with the boot to finish as the top scorer in the competition with a tally of 135 points.[18] This helped his side reach the semi-finals, where they lost to Free State U21.[19]
^ ab Radebe's full names were originally listed as Innocent Radebe on the South African Rugby Union's website,[1] but later changed to Inny-Christian Radebe.[2] Websites and articles might refer to him as,[3] Innocent Radebe,[4] Inny-Christian Radebe[5] or simply Inny Radebe.[6]
