As reported by The South African website, former Springbok Andre Snyman has been diagnosed with a debilitating illness.

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A GoFundMe fundraiser page has been set up to help financially with his surgery scheduled for early 2025.

Snyman, now 50, was born in Newcastle and attended Dannhauser Primary School before finishing off his schooling at Dundee High School.

He is the only Springbok produced to date by the KwaZulu-Natal based school.

Career highlights

During his school career, Snyman represented Natal in athletics and Northern Natal in rugby – attending the Craven Week in 1991 and 1992.

While studying at, and playing rugby for, the Pretoria Technikon, he was chosen to play rugby for the Northern Transvaal U21’s in 1993.

John Williams, the then Blue Bulls coach, spotted Snyman playing for the U21’s and selected him to play for the Blue Bulls in the centre position.

This was the start of an illustrious professional career for Snyman which saw him play for the Blue Bulls from 1994-1999, the Sharks from 2000-2003 and being capped for the Springboks on 38 occasions between 1996 and 2006.

Two horrific ankle injuries in 1999 and 2000 respectively, prevented him from achieving his ultimate goal in his career and that was to represent South Africa at a Rugby World Cup tournament.

However, during his 10 year career span with the Springboks, Snyman remained a stalwart in the centre and wing positions scoring 10 tries (50 points) in the green and gold jersey.

He will perhaps be best remembered for his hat-trick of tries in the Test against Tonga in Cape Town in 1997; and his breakaway “under the poles” try against England during the Test at Twickenham in November 1997.

Snyman took his rugby career to new levels when he joined the Leeds Tykes in England in November 2003.

He was one of the highest profile players to ever sign for the club, and during his time with the Leeds Tykes, he did not disappoint, entertaining the crowd with some outstanding performances that made him a crowd favourite and club legend.

He helped the team to be promoted to the Premiership in the 2003/2004 season and again in the 2006/2007 season after they had been relegated from the top flight at the end of the previous two seasons respectively.

Snyman announced his retirement from rugby in 2007 and played his last professional game of rugby for Leeds Tykes on 22 April 2007.

His formidable presence on a rugby field has been noticeably missed since his retirement.

Springbok stats

Full name: Andries Hendrik Snyman
Date of birth: 2 February 1974
Place of birth: Newcastle
School: Dundee
Springbok no: 636
Physical: 1.87m, 97.5kg
Test summary: Tests: 38 Tries: 10
First Test: 17 August 1996 – Outside Centre against New Zealand at Kings Park, Durban
Last Test: 17 Jun 2006 – Outside Centre against Scotland at Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Test history

Andre Snyman finished on the winning side in 26 of his 38 Tests for a win percentage of 68.4%.

Date Opponent Venue Result
17 August 1996 New Zealand Kings Park, Durban Lost 23-19
24 August 1996 New Zealand Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Lost 33-26
16 November 1996 Argentina Ferrocarril-Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires Won 44-21
15 December 1996 Wales Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Won 37-20
10 June 1997 Tonga Newlands, Cape Town Won 74-10
21 June 1997 Britain Newlands, Cape Town Lost 25-16
28 June 1997 Britain Kings Park, Durban Lost 18-15
5 July 1997 Britain Ellis Park, Johannesburg Won 35-16
19 July 1997 New Zealand Ellis Park, Johannesburg Lost 35-32
2 August 1997 Australia Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane Lost 32-20
9 August 1997 New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Lost 55-35
23 August 1997 Australia Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Won 61-22
8 November 1997 Italy Dall’Ara Stadium, Bologna Won 62-31
15 November 1997 France Stade de Gerland, Lyon Won 36-32
22 November 1997 France Parc des Princes, Paris Won 52-10
29 November 1997 England Twickenham, London Won 29-11
6 December 1997 Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Won 68-10
13 June 1998 Ireland Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Won 37-13
20 June 1998 Ireland Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Won 33-0
27 June 1998 Wales Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Won 96-13
4 Jul 1998 England Newlands, Cape Town Won 18-0
18 July 1998 Australia Subiaco Oval, Perth Won 14-13
25 July 1998 New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Won 13-3
15 August 1998 New Zealand Kings Park, Durban Won 24-23
22 August 1998 Australia Ellis Park, Johannesburg Won 29-15
14 November 1998 Wales Wembley, London Won 28-20
21 November 1998 Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Won 35-10
28 November 1998 Ireland Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin Won 27-13
5 December 1998 England Twickenham, London Lost 13-7
7 August 1999 New Zealand Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Lost 34-18
25 August 2001 New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Lost 26-15
10 November 2001 France Stade de France, Paris Lost 20-10
1 December 2001 USA Robertson Stadium, UH, Houston Won 43-20
8 June 2002 Wales Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Won 34-19
7 June 2003 Scotland Kings Park, Durban Won 29-25
19 July 2003 New Zealand Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Lost 52-16
10 June 2006 Scotland Kings Park, Durban Won 36-16
17 June 2006 Scotland Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Won 29-15

Post retirement

After retiring from rugby, Andre Snyman moved into a successful coaching career in the United States, primarily at various levels in the Greater Denver area, while he has also spent time coaching at Hill House School in the United Kingdom.

Sadly, it has now been confirmed that Snyman has been diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, which is a tumour that grows inside the ear canal and affects the brain.

A fundraising page has a target of $30 000. At the time of publishing, a total of $2 820 has been pledged.

The narration states: “On October 18, 2024, former South African Springbok rugby player and current Valor Christian High School Rugby Club girls coach, Andre Snyman, was diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma (otherwise known as an acoustic neuroma).

“The side effects have been debilitating for Andre, and he is no longer able to drive or move without concern due to his balance being impacted. He will undergo surgery in mid-January to hopefully remove the tumor.

“While the recovery time is expected to be three months post-surgery, there are immediate challenges that Andre and his family are navigating – both medical and non-medical.

“To help alleviate the added pressure of this unexpected health crisis that Andre finds himself in, I have created this GoFundMe so that friends, members of the rugby community, colleagues, and those who feel so inclined are able to aid in his immediate time of need and post-surgery recovery.”

SEND ANDRE SNYMAN YOUR BEST WISHES

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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/springboks/springbok-andre-snyman-battles-brain-tumour-full-test-stats/