Pedrie Johannes Wannenburg (2 January 1981 – 22 April 2022) was 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. He last coached for Austin Elite Rugby in North American

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

. He played for Austin in 2018, Denver Stampede in the now defunct PRO Rugby League of North America and

Castres Olympique Castres Olympique () is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Sta ...

for two seasons, after two years with Irish club

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. He also represented the South African Bulls in the southern hemisphere Super 14 competition, in a team record consecutive run of 99 matches, spanning seasons 2002 to 2010 with a total of 106 matches for them. Wannenburg signed to the Denver Stampede in early 2016, and captained the team.

Rugby union career

Club

Wannenburg made his provincial debut in 2001 against the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

. In 2002 Wannenburg made his

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 ...

debut against the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

. Wannenburg was the first player to play 100 games for the Blue Bulls and also 99 consecutive games for the Bulls. He won three Super Rugby titles with the Bulls in 2007, 2009 and 2010,Pedrie Wannenburg’s in bullish mood over future with Ulster
Belfast Telegraph, 22 July 2010 as well as five

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 ...

s, and became their most capped player with 114 Super Rugby appearances. In June 2010, he decided to take on a new challenge with

in Ireland competing in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

and

Pro12 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 ...

.Ulster sign Pedrie Wanneburg as Rush stays with Cardiff
BBC Sport, 16 June 2010 He played in Ulster's 2012 Heineken Cup Final defeat to

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. He left Ulster at the end of the 2011–2012 seasonRaboDirect PRO12: Pedrie’s farewell to Belfast
Belfast Telegraph, 19 April 2012 and signed a two-year contract with French side

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

International

In November 2002, Wannenburg made his first test appearance for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

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 ...

. He narrowly missed selection to the victorious South Africa squad for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. He had 20

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Springboks.

Personal life

Wannenburg was born in

Nelspruit Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...

(now Mbombela). Following problems with drugs and alcohol in South Africa, Wannenburg became a Christian. During his time with Ulster, he attended church in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

with his fellow South Africans and Ulster team-mates Johann Muller and

Ruan Pienaar Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for the in the Currie Cup. Pienaar is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar. Ruan ...

. While at Ulster, he married Evette and the couple had two children, a daughter Isabelle, followed by a son, François in 2013.

Death

He died on 22 April 2022 in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, US, after his car was struck while at an intersection by a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old who was trying to evade a police stop. His wife and children were all in the car at the time. His son sustained life-threatening injuries.

References

External links

Pedrie Wanneburg
ESPN Scrum.com
Pedrie Wannenburg
Ulster Rugby {{DEFAULTSORT:Wannenburg, Pedrie 1981 births 2022 deaths Afrikaner people Austin Gilgronis players Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Barbarian F.C. players Denver Stampede players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States People from Mbombela Rugby union flankers South Africa international rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland South African expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union players from Mpumalanga Road incident deaths in Texas South African Christians Ulster Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland Oyonnax Rugby players Castres Olympique players