Andries Strauss born 5 March 1984 in Pretoria, South Africa is a former rugby union player that played as a centre.

Career

Free State Cheetahs

After playing for the Free State Under-20 side in 2003, he was included in the senior side for the

2004 Vodacom Cup The 2004 Vodacom Cup was the 7th 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 Divisions. Competition There were seven teams p ...

competition and made his debut for them in a match against the . He made his Currie Cup debut for the team later in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

against the . He remained with the Bloemfontein-based side until the end of the 2005 season, before moving to Durban to join the .

Sharks

He 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 in the ', starting in opening match of the

2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion, ...

against the . He quickly established himself as a regular, starting twelve of the Sharks' matches during the season. He represented the teams at all levels – playing for the at

level in 2006,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, domestically for the in the Currie Cup between

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and for the in the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

Vodacom Cup competitions, making in excess of one hundred appearances for the team at those various levels.

Return to the Cheetahs

In August 2010, Strauss signed a deal with the Cheetahs for the

2011 Super 15 season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

, due to the departure of Cheetahs centre

Meyer Bosman Herman Meyer Bosman (born 19 April 1985) is a South African former professional rugby player, who last played for the Stade Français, in France. He is a flyhalf (10), but has recently showed great ability in the inside-center position. He has p ...

who joined the Sharks the next season. In 2011 and 2012 Strauss made almost 40 appearances for the Cheetahs in

and the Currie Cup and also played with his cousin Adriaan Strauss during this time.

Kings

He joined the for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He made his Kings debut in their first ever

match in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, a 22–10 victory over Australian side the . He started thirteen of their sixteen matches during the season – most of them as captain following an injury to regular captain

Luke Watson Luke Asher Watson (born 26 October 1983 in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth) is a South African former rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team ...

. However, Strauss broke his hand towards the end of the campaign and missed the 2013 Super Rugby Promotion/Relegation Play-offs, which saw the gain entry into 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 ...

at the Kings' expense. He also missed the entire

2013 Currie Cup First Division The 2013 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 June to 11 October 2013. 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 competiti ...

season with the same injury.

Edinburgh

He signed for Scottish side Edinburgh Rugby at the start of 2014, tying him to the club until 2016. His first points for the club came during a Pro12 encounter with

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

the following November.

Representative rugby

In November 2010, after an injury to stand-in full-back and centre Zane Kirchner, Strauss received a call up to play for the Springboks to face a star-studded Barbarians side at Twickenham in a non-test match. Although it was a non-test match, this thus far, is his only appearance for the national team. At youth level, he played for the South Africa Under-21 side, playing two matches for them in the 2004 Under 21 Rugby World Championship. He also represented 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 ...

side during the

2006–07 IRB Sevens World Series 2006–07 IRB Sevens World Series was the eighth of an annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. New Zealand were the series champions, winning the final tournament ...

competition.

Personal life

Strauss is the brother of Irish international

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

Richardt Strauss Richardt Strauss (born 28 January 1986) is a former professional rugby union player who played as a hooker. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, he began his career with the Free State Cheetahs and played for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby before movin ...

, as well as the cousin for

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

international hooker Adriaan Strauss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Andries 1984 births Living people Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Sharks (rugby union) players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Eastern Province Elephants players Southern Kings players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Pretoria Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein South Africa international rugby sevens players South Africa international rugby union players