Stephanus Marthinus 'Stoof' Bezuidenhout (born 10 May 1986 in

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly si ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) 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, who played with the from 2011 to 2015. His regular position is tighthead prop.

Career

Varsity Cup

Bezuidenhout played for

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" ...

-based university side in the

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 ...

competition in

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and

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. He made a total of 16 appearances, which included playing all nine of their matches during the 2009 campaign – with Bezuidenhout scoring one try against the – as NWU Pukke reached the final of the competition, only to lose the final 11–6 to the in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

Leopards

In 2011, Bezuidenhout also became involved with the provincial rugby side based in Potchefstroom, the . He was included in their squad for the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South A ...

competition and made his debut in the first match of the season against the in

East London, Eastern Cape East London ( xh, eMonti; af, Oos-Londen) is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ...

, eventually starting all eight of their matches during the competition. He was also a regular for the side in the

2011 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top t ...

, being named in the run-on side in ten of their fourteen matches. His debut in that competition was the Round One clash against the 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 ...

, but he could not prevent the Leopards' relegation to the First Division as they only won one match during the competition. He made fourteen appearances for them in the

2012 Currie Cup First Division The 2012 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 30 June to 13 October 2012. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competit ...

to help them finish in fourth place. Two

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

and six Currie Cup First Division appearances followed in 2013, with Bezuidenhout also scoring his first senior try in the latter competition in their match against the in a 38–27 victory. He started all seven of the Leopards' matches in the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Cu ...

, also scoring his first try in this competition against the and made one appearance in the

2014 Currie Cup qualification The 2014 Currie Cup qualification series was a tournament organised by the South African Rugby Union. It featured seven teams and was played in June and July 2014, with the winner qualifying for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division. The remaining ...

competition as the Leopards lost out on qualification to the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

by a single point.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezuidenhout, Stoof South African rugby union players Living people 1986 births People from Vereeniging Rugby union props Leopards (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Gauteng