Courtney Kresten Winnaar (born 27 March 1997) is a South African

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

Pro14 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 ...

. He can play as a fullback or fly-half.

Rugby career

2013–15: Schoolboy rugby

Winnaar attended Dale College Boys' High School in

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

, earning provincial selections to represent the between 2013 and 2015. In 2013, he represented the team at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in

Vanderbijlpark Vanderbijlpark is an industrial town with approximately 95 000 inhabitants, situated on the Vaal River in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa. The city is named after Hendrik van der Bijl, an electrical engineer and industrialist. Vand ...

, scoring one try in the tournament in their 15–13 victory over Free State. He played in the premier South African high schools competition, the Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The to ...

, in both 2014 and 2015. He again scored a try in each of these tournaments; in the 2014 event held in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

, he scored a late try against the (before also converting the try), while in the 2015 event held in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

, he scored a try against the , after also kicking five points in their match against Boland three days earlier.

2016: Eastern Province Kings

In 2016, Winnaar joined the Eastern Province Academy. He was included in the squad for the – a university rugby team that is affiliated with Eastern Province's Academy – for the 2016 Varsity Cup. He was named on the bench for their match against in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, but failed to make an appearance. Winnaar was amongst a large contingent of youngsters that were included in the squad for the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

series. He was named on the bench for their first match of the season against the and replaced Keanu Vers shortly after half-time to make his first class debut in a 14–37 defeat. He was promoted to the starting lineup for their second match of the season against the in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and was also handed the kicking duties. He kicked two penalties in the first half of the match and scored his first senior try just before the hour mark in an eventual 18–37 defeat. He scored a second try in their next match against the the following week – also kicking a conversion in a 14–28 loss – and made it three tries in three matches when he scored the second of the EP Kings' five tries in a 31–18 victory over

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 the 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 ...

. After those four

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 ...

appearances, Winnaar joined the team for their 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship campaign.

2017–2018: Sharks

In 2017 Winnaar was voted Sharks Under 21 Player of the Year

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winnaar, Courtney 1997 births Living people Eastern Province Elephants players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from East London, South Africa South African rugby union players Southern Kings players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union wings Tel Aviv Heat players South African expatriate sportspeople in Israel South African expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Israel