Shaun Adendorff (born ) 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 in

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. His regular position is flanker.

Career

KwaZulu-Natal

Adendorff was selected to represent his local KwaZulu-Natal provincial union at both the 2005 Under-13 Craven Week for primary schools tournament and at the 2008 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week tournament. He didn't represent them at

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 ...

level though and opted to 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 ...

to join the academy after high school.

Blue Bulls / South Africa Under-20 / UP Tuks

Adendorff joined the Blue Bulls academy for the 2011 season and was selected to play for the side in the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He started nine of their twelve matches during the regular season of the competition, scored tries in their matches against , and to help the Blue Bulls finish top of the log to qualify for the title play-offs. He started their 48–13 victory over in the semi-final, as well as the final, where the team suffered a 19–20 defeat to the s 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 ...

. In 2012, he was selected in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...

, which was held in South Africa. Adendorff started their first match in the competition, but the hosts got off to a bad start, losing 19–23 to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He wasn't included in the matchday squad as South Africa recovered to beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

52–3 in their second match, but he returned to the starting line-up as they beat

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 ...

28–15 to finish top of the log. Adendorff was a key figure in South Africa's vital victory, scoring two tries in the match. He started his third match of the tournament as South Africa easily dispatched

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the semi-final, winning 35–3, and was named on the bench for the final against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He didn't get any game time in the match, as South Africa won 22–16 in the final, to win the competition for the first time and ending New Zealand's four-year reign as champions. Adendorff returned to domestic action for the side in the

2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There are seven p ...

. Despite still being in the Under-20 age group, he quickly established himself in the team. He missed their first match of the season, played off the bench in their second match against the and was selected in the starting line-up for all their remaining twelve matches in the competition. He scored tries in their matches against and , as the side emulated for the Under-19 team the previous season by winning ten of their twelve matches to finish the regular season at the top of the log. Adendorff scored his third try of the campaign in a 50–24 victory over the s in the semi-finals, but again suffered defeat in a final, with his side losing 18–22 to to finish as the competition's runner-up. Adendorff started the 2013 season playing

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

rugby for . He scored five tries in eight starts in the competition, which included a hat-trick in their 52–0 victory over . Tries in their victories over the and helped UP Tuks qualify for the semi-finals. UP Tuks beat 61–24 in the semi-final and three-time champions 44–5 in the final to win the competition for the second consecutive season. Shortly after the Varsity Cup, Adendorff joined the squad that competed 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 ...

. He made his first class debut in a 110–0 victory over the in

Lephalale Lephalale (formerly Ellisras) is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a ...

and also appeared in matches against the and the . Adendorff returned to the in the second half of the season, making ten appearances 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 tries their matches against and the s as the Blue Bulls finished in second spot on the log. Following a victory over the Sharks in the semi-final, Adendorff ended on the losing side of a Provincial Championship final for the third consecutive season as the s beat them 30–23 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa Sevens

Adendorff was then contracted by the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

for the

South Africa Sevens The South Africa Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament that is held in South Africa. It is currently hosted in Cape Town and is part of the Sevens World Series run by World Rugby. A South African leg of the World series has been include ...

squad. He represented them at the final two events of the 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series, the 2014 Scotland Sevens and

2014 London Sevens The 2014 London Sevens was the eighth and final tournament of the 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series. This edition of the London Sevens was hosted at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Format The sixteen teams competing were divided into four ...

. However, this proved to be his only involvement with the main South Africa Sevens squad, although he did represent their Academy squad on occasion. Despite interest from

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 ...

-based side the to contract him for the 2015 season, he remained in the Sevens programme until the end of 2015.

Boland Cavaliers

Adendorff returned to fifteen-man rugby in 2016 by moving to

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 ...

-based outfit for the 2016 season.

Aurillac

Adendorff moved to French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

side prior to the 2018–19 season.

Northampton Saints

Abendorff signed for

side

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

ahead of the 2020–21 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adendorff, Shaun 1992 births Living people Blue Bulls players Boland Cavaliers players Bulls (rugby union) players Northampton Saints players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Durban South Africa international rugby sevens players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South African rugby union players Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne players USON Nevers players