Jacobus Christoffel Entienne Swanepoel (born 9 March 1993) is a South African born Italian

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 Italian

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2 ...

side

Rugby Rovigo Delta Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni ...

. His regular position is tighthead prop.

Club career

Western Province

Swanepoel was born in

Sasolburg Sasolburg is a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The city is located in the northern part of the province and is the seat of the Metsimaholo Local Municipality. The city lies 13 kilometres south of the Gauteng province and form ...

, but grew up in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He was selected to represent at the premier high schools rugby union tournament in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week, held in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

in 2011. After high school, he joined the Western Province Academy and made seven appearances for their Under-19 team in the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012 in South Africa. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participati ...

. However, he missed out on the title play-offs, which saw his side crowned champions by beating the team 22–18 in

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 ...

. He made nine appearances for their Under-21 team that finished top of 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 ...

to qualify for the semi-finals. This time, Swanepoel did play in the play-off matches, starting their 44–41 victory over the Golden Lions in the semi-final and their 30–23 victory over the Blue Bulls in the final. At the start of the following year, Swanepoel was included in the squad for 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 th ...

. He made his first class debut in their opening match of the competition against near-neighbours in a 16–8 victory. He made a further four starts during the regular season, helping Western Province to finish in fourth position in the Southern Section. He also started in their quarter final match, where a 13–8 defeat to the ended their interest in the competition. He started in Western Province U21s' opening match of the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

, but suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of the remainder of 2014. He returned to action for Western Province during the

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Afr ...

competition, making two appearances; he started their 34–6 victory over the and came on as a replacement in their 47–22 win over a . He was named in their senior squad for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Group Limited, Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for spon ...

, but failed to make any appearances. He was loaned to the , where he made his

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

debut by coming on as a replacement in their 17–61 defeat to the in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

, his only appearance in the competition.

Blue Bulls

In August 2015, the announced that they secured Swanepoel's services until October 2017. He made his debut for them in the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the ...

series by starting in their 16–30 defeat to his former side, Western Province, making a total of ten appearances in the competition. He was then named in their squad for the

2016 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division was the top tier of the second stage of the 2016 Currie Cup, the 78th edition of this annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 5 August ...

Stade Français

Swanepoel joined

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

side

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

at the start of 2017.

Southern Kings

He returned to South Africa to join the for their first season in the expanded

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

competition. He was used as a replacement in their first two matches of the season against and , but suffered a concussion that ruled him out for their next two matches. After a further two appearances as a replacement against the and , he suffered a knee injury that ruled him out for six weeks, but he failed to make any further appearances during the season. He made a single appearance for the on loan from the Kings in the domestic Rugby Challenge competition, starting their opening match of the competition against .

Valsugana, Petrarca, Rovigo

In July 2018, Italian side

Valsugana The Valsugana (, ) or Sugana Valley is one of the most important valleys in the autonomous province of Trentino in Northern Italy. Leading into the Alps' foothills, an important main north-south Roman road, the Via Claudia Augusta, one of Europ ...

announced that Swanepoel would join them for their inaugural season in the

following promotion from

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. The following season, Swanepoel signed a one-year contract with the other team from Padova,

Petrarca Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's let ...

. After the premature cancellation of the championship amidst the COVID-19 emergency, on April 30, 2020, he was subsequently drafted by

for the incoming season

International career

On the 14 October 2021, he was selected by

Alessandro Troncon Alessandro Troncon (born 6 September 1973 in Treviso) is a former Italian rugby union player. Troncon is the 6th most capped player in Italian rugby union history, and the first Italian to gain 100 caps. The veteran scrum-half made his Italy deb ...

to be part of an Italy A 28-man squad and on 16 December was named in Emerging Italy squad for the

2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2021 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were rugby union test matches during October and November 2021, mainly involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanepoel, Entienne 1993 births Living people People from Sasolburg Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Rugby union props Blue Bulls players Boland Cavaliers players Western Province (rugby union) players Southern Kings players Rugby union players from the Free State (province) Petrarca Rugby players Stade Français Paris players South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen Italian rugby union players