Andre Stoop (born 8 October 1960) is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n retired

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

player. At fullback he played domestic rugby union in South Africa and played for the Namibian national team. In 1991 he changed codes to play rugby league in the United Kingdom. Between 1991 and 1996 he played for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

, London Crusaders and

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England who compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. Keighley's home ground, Cougar Park has a capacity of 7,800. History Early y ...

. In 1996, he returned to rugby union and signed for

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

Career

Stoop played in South African domestic competitions, the Sports Pienaar Cup and

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

for Namibian side

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

between 1980 and 1991. In 1988 he was named Namibian Sportsman of the Year. Between March 1990 and August 1991 he was capped 11 times for the Namibian national team. In his 11 appearances Stoop scored six tries as Namibia won 10 of the 11 matches. In the one game where he was on the losing side (against Wales on 2 June 1990) he was sent off for head-butting an opponent. Stoop was also selected to play for invitational side the

South African Barbarians South African Barbarians is an invitational rugby union club styled along the lines of Barbarian F.C. It was formed in 1960 by Frank Mellish, the former 1951–52 Springbok selector and manager, together with former Natal Rugby Union President, ...

on seven occasions. In 1991 Stoop moved to the United Kingdom, changed codes and joined rugby league team Wigan. During a two season stay at Wigan, Stoop made 16 appearances before joining London Crusaders. After a single season at London, Stoop joined Keighley Cougars in August 1994. At the end of the 1996 rugby league season, Stoop returned to rugby union joining London side Blackheath.

References

External links

Namibia rugby: Out of Boks' shadow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoop, Andre 1960 births Living people Keighley Cougars players London Broncos players Namibia international rugby union players Namibian rugby league players Namibian rugby union players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Tsumeb Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Tsumeb Wigan Warriors players