André Riaan Warner (born 2 September 1993) is a South African professional

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 its m ...

player for the in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and the in the

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 ...

. His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Youth / Western Province

In July 2011, Warner was included in the Western Province side that participated at the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week tournament held in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

. He scored two tries in the competition, one in each of their matches against Border and the Pumas. In 2012, he was included in the squad that competed in the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participating teams in the 201 ...

. He scored a try in his first appearance for the side in a 23–13 victory over the s, eventually making six appearances for a Western Province side that made it all the way to the final of the competition, where they lost to the .

Blue Bulls / UP Tuks

Warner made the move to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in 2013 to join the . However, he had limited playing time for the at age-group level – in 2012, he was named on the bench on one occasion during the Under-21 Provincial Championship, but failed to appear, and in 2013, he made just one start and two appearances off the bench, contributing a try in their 37–10 victory over the s in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

. Warner was included in the squad for the

2015 Varsity Cup The 2015 Varsity Cup was contested from 9 February to 13 April 2015. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...

and was the number one choice fly-half for the university side, starting all eight of their matches in the competition and again scoring a try in Potchefstroom in their match against the . His appearances consisted of seven matches in the round-robin stage of the tournament of which UP Tuks won them all to qualify to the semi-finals, as well as their semi-final defeat to the NWU Pukke, losing 28–29 to miss out on a home semi-final. Less than two weeks after his final Vartisy Cup match, Warner also made his first class debut. He started their Round Five match against

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 side in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and helped the Blue Bulls to a 44–0 victory. He also featured in their 40–21 win over the in Pretoria and their 83–13 defeat of the . Warner missed out on the Blue Bulls' play-off matches in the competition, as he was included in the '

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

squad for their tour to Australia and New Zealand, but failed to get any game-time during the tour. Warner was included in the ' senior squad for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was t ...

and was named as the scrum-half replacement for their Round Four match against in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Andre South African rugby union players Living people 1993 births Rugby union players from Cape Town Rugby union scrum-halves Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Stade Français Paris players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players