Adriaan Pieter 'André' Esterhuizen (born 30 March 1994 in

Klerksdorp Klerksdorp ( ) is located in the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp is located southeast of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Republic and u ...

) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and South Africa national team. His regular position is centre.

Rugby player career

Youth

Esterhuizen represented his local side at the Under-13 Craven Week competition in 2007, at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2010 and at 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 ...

in 2011. In 2013, he moved to

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

to join the . He started twelve of the side's matches during 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 p ...

competition, finishing as the joint top try scorer in Division A of that competition with 9 tries. He was included in the South Africa Under-20 side for the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internatio ...

Club career

Sharks

His first taste of first class rugby came for the during 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 Fi ...

competition. He made his debut in a 72–6 victory against the , coming on as a substitute in the second half. Further substitute appearances followed that season in matches against the and . Esterhuizen was included in the wider training squad prior to the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

, scoring a try for them in their warm-up match against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

and was subsequently selected in the final Super Rugby squad for 2014.

Harlequins

He joined

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

side Harlequins ahead of the 2020–21 season. He won his first Premiership title and started as Harlequins won the final 40–38 against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the highest scoring Premiership final ever on 26 June 2021. In May 2022, Esterhuizen won the Rugby Players' Association's player's player of the year. The result was determined after a poll by fellow players throughout the English Premiership. The award came off the back of him scoring 8 tries for Harlequins throughout the season after qualifying for the playoffs in an attempt to retain the Premiership title. On 2 January 2022, Esterhuizen won man of the match despite not scoring a try as Harlequins beat

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

20-17 away. On 5 January 2022, Esterhuizen scored a try against in a absence of a number of key players including England internationals Marcus Smith and

Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English professional rugby union player who played as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team. Early life Care was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He ...

, going on to win man of the match against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

as Harlequins won 24-3 away. On 8 January 2022, Esterhuizen scored a last minute try and completed the game winning turnover to beat Exeter Chiefs. He was awarded his third consecutive man of the match in as many games for his performance. At the end of the 2021–22 season, Esterhuizen was voted Harlequins' players player of the year and fans player of the season. In April 2024, he scored a try from a cross-field kick by Marcus Smith as Harlequins won their first ever Champions Cup knockout game beating

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

28-24 at home.

Return to the Sharks

In March 2024 Esterhuizen announced he would be returning to South Africa for family reasons. On his time at Harlequins, he was quoted as saying ''I'm very grateful to Harlequins for providing me with the opportunity to return home to South Africa and be closer to my family...I have loved my time at Quins. The club has played a huge role in my development and career achievements.'' His return to the Sharks was confirmed on 14 March 2024, departing the Harlequins one year prior to the end of his contract.

International career

In 2018, Esterhuizen made his debut for South Africa against

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

in a one off match staged in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. South Africa went on to lose the game 22-20. In September 2023, Esterhuizen was named as part of South Africa's squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

. South Africa went on to win the tournament beating

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

12-11 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Test Match record

P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

Honours

Club Harlequins: 1x Gallagher Premiership ( 2020-2021) Country South Africa 1x

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

(

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

)

Personal life

Esterhuizen and his wife Mabea have one daughter.

References

External links

André Esterhuizen
at

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esterhuizen, Andre South African rugby union players Living people 1994 births Rugby union players from Klerksdorp Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union centres South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Munakata Sanix Blues players Harlequin F.C. players Rugby union players from Potchefstroom 2023 Rugby World Cup players South African expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan 21st-century South African sportsmen