Andries Ebenaezer Swanepoel (born 19 February 1993) 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 AS Bédarrides in the French amateur Nationale 2. His regular position is centre.

Career

Youth

Swanepoel played for the at primary school level, representing them at the 2005 and 2006 Under-13 Craven Week competitions. He then went to Grey College in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, where he played schoolboy rugby next to future

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

Jan Serfontein Jan Lodewyk Serfontein (born 15 April 1993) is a South African professional rugby union rugby player. He plays as a centre for French Top 14 side . Career Serfontein was a member of the South Africa under 20 team that won the 2012 IRB Junior ...

He represented the at Under-16 level at the 2009 Grant Khomo Week and at Under-18 level at the 2011

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 tou ...

. This led to his inclusion in the South African Schools side in 2011, where he also acted as vice-captain. In 2012, he moved 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 ...

to join the . He made four starts for them 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 ...

competition, scoring three tries. In 2013, he earned a call-up to the South Africa Under-20 side that played in the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

. After making substitute appearances against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he started the final pool match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

– scoring a first-minute try to help them top their pool – and the semi-final loss to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He returned to domestic action at the end of the year, scoring five tries in fourteen appearances for the side in the

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

. He scored a try in the final, but it wasn't enough to help the Blue Bulls secure the title, losing 30–23 to . He played for university side during the

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...

, scoring six tries in six starts.

Blue Bulls

Swanepoel's first class debut came in the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

competition. He started in their match against 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 ...

It took him just eleven minutes to score his first senior try, setting Blue Bulls on their way to a 40–32 win. He made a further five appearances in the competition, scoring a total of six tries, the joint seventh-highest in the competition.

Cheetahs

In July 2018, Swanepoel returned to the prior to the

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

, signing a two-year deal with the

-based side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanepoel, Dries 1993 births Living people People from Tswaing Local Municipality South African rugby union players Blue Bulls players Rugby union centres South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players AS Béziers Hérault players Rugby union players from North West (South African province)