Stephanus Hendrik Coetzee (born 9 January 1992 in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play i ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Of ...

(MLR) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. His regular playing position is hooker.

Career

Youth

Coetzee represented at various youth levels, playing at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2008, the Under-18 Academy Week in 2009 and 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 to ...

in 2010. He joined the Western Province Rugby Institute in 2011 and played for in the

2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2011 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 15 July to 29 October 2011. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There were seven partici ...

competition and for in the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

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 ...

Under-21 Provincial Championship competitions, winning the competition in 2013 and scoring two tries during the season.

Western Province / Stormers

He was included in the squad for 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 First ...

and made his senior debut when he started in their opening match of the season against neighbours in Ceres. He played in eight matches during the competition, starting six of them. After one more appearance during 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 C ...

, Coetzee was flown to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

to link up with the '

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 ...

squad for their match against the , following a torn calf muscle suffered by first-choice hooker

Scarra Ntubeni Siyabonga 'Scarra' Ntubeni (born 18 February 1991) is a South African rugby union footballer who plays as hooker for the in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge. Career Ntubeni debuted for both Western Province an ...

. Coetzee was subsequently named on the bench for the clash.

Griquas

He moved to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

for the 2015 season to join .

Seattle Seawolves

Coetzee joined

side

prior to the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

., having a prominent performance with 8 tries assists in regular season and qualifying seawolves to playoff for the second time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coetzee, Stephan 1992 births Living people Alumni of Paarl Boys' High School Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Rugby union players from Worcester, South Africa Rugby union hookers Seattle Seawolves players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States Southern Kings players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Griquas (rugby union) players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players New England Free Jacks players