Shaun Adendorff (born 28 May 1992) 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 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, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

. 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 ...

level though and opted to move to

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

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 language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. 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 IRB Junior World Championship, an annual international rugby union competition for Under-20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championship ...

, 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 (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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

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 ...

. 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 seve ...

. 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 unive ...

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 Fi ...

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

Lephalale Lephalale, formerly known as 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 sett ...

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 p ...

. 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 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 ...

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 ...

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 included ...

squad. He represented them at the final two events of the

2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series The 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 15th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides. The IRB Sevens World Series has been run by the Internation ...

, the

2014 Scotland Sevens The 2014 Scotland Sevens was the eighth tournament within the 2013-2014 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 3–4 May 2014 at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. Format The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each te ...

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, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...

-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 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

-based outfit for the 2016 season.

Aurillac

Adendorff moved to French

Pro D2 The 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 introduced in 2000. It ...

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. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

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 Alumni of Glenwood High School (Durban) South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen South African expatriate rugby union players in England