Steven Kitshoff
South African rugby union player
Steven Kitshoff (born 10 February 1992) is a South African former rugby union player who last played for the Stormers. His playing position was loosehead prop. He represented the South Africa national team and has previously played for Bordeaux in the French Top 14 and Western Province in the Currie Cup. He joined Ulster for the 2023-24 season.
Kitshoff was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that won the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship. In addition, Kitshoff was part of the Western Province team that won the 2012 Currie Cup. He retired from professional rugby in 2025 due to complications sustained in a serious neck injury in 2024.
01Early life and education
Kitshoff attended Hendrik Louw Primary School and Paul Roos Gymnasium.
02Career
Kitshoff first broke through during the 2011 season, making 5 substitute appearances for the Stormers and then 5 Currie Cup appearances for Western Province while still only a teenager. He became more of a regular during 2012, nailing down the number 1 jersey for both the Stormers and Western Province and also winning the Currie Cup title with Province in an impressive win over the Sharks in Durban. His 2013 Super Rugby campaign was solid and he carried that form into the Currie Cup later in the year where he was an ever-present as Province reached a second consecutive Currie Cup final this time going down at home to the Sharks. 2014 was a year of frustration as he succumbed to a season-ending injury towards the back-end of the Super Rugby season and this ruled him out of Western Province's successful Currie Cup campaign in which they lifted the title for the second time in three years with a narrow win over the Golden Lions at Newlands.
In February 2015, it was revealed that Kitshoff would join French Top 14 side Bordeaux at the conclusion of the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division season. He spent two seasons in France before returning to Cape Town in 2017. In his second stint with the Stormers, he was named captain of the team in 2021, and led the team as they won the inaugural United Rugby Championship in 2022. He signed for Ulster ahead of the 2023-24 season, and returned to the Stormers at the end of the season.
Following his return from Ulster, Steven Kitshoff suffered a serious neck injury during the Currie Cup match against Griquas. Following medical advice, he underwent neck fusion surgery on 20 November to aid in his recovery. He later said the injury was near-fatal, citing his doctors who said that the affected vertebra, which shifted, was located near his central canal at a distance of two millimetres. On 25 February 2025, Kitshoff announced his retirement from professional rugby, citing his injury.
International rugby
On 28 May 2016, Kitshoff was included in a 31-man South Africa squad for their three-test match series against a touring Ireland team.
Kitshoff was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2023 Rugby World Cup. South Africa went on to win both tournaments, defeating England in the 2019 final and New Zealand in the 2023 final.
03Honours
04Springbok statistics
Test Match Record
| Against | P | W | D | L | Tri | Pts | %Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81.82 |
| Australia | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 36.36 |
| British & Irish Lions | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| England | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 55.56 |
| France | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Ireland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Italy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 75 |
| Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| New Zealand | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Romania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Scotland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Tonga | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Wales | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Total | 83 | 50 | 3 | 30 | 2 | 10 | 60.24 |
Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored
International tries
| Try | Opposing team | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | Padua, Italy | Stadio Euganeo | 2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals | 25 November 2017 | Win | 6, 35 |
| 2 | Italy | Genoa, Italy | Stadio Luigi Ferraris | 2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals | 19 November 2022 | Win | 21, 63 |
05Super Rugby statistics
- As of 9 June 2020
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Stormers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 126 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Stormers | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1145 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | Stormers | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Stormers | 11 | 10 | 1 | 673 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Stormers | 15 | 15 | 0 | 993 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | In Europe with Union Bordeaux Bègles | ||||||||
| 2017 | Stormers | 3 | 0 | 3 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Stormers | 15 | 11 | 4 | 827 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Stormers | 13 | 12 | 1 | 773 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Stormers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 387 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 98 | 84 | 14 | 6184 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 0 | |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Steven Kitshoff”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Steven Kitshoff LQ 2022.jpg by Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 2.0
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