Steven Kitshoff Biography

Steven Kitshoff was born on 10 February 1992 in Somerset West and attended Paul Roos Gymnasium. He first broke through during the 2011 season making five substitute appearances for the Stormers while still only a teenager. 

Kitshoff was one of the standouts for the South Africa U-20 team that beat New Zealand to win the 2012 Junior World Championship title and became more of a regular that year, nailing down the number 1 jersey for both the Stormers and Western Province. 

The 2013 Super Rugby season was solid for Steven Kitshoff 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. 

Unfortunately 2014 would be the year that 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. 

Steven Kitshoff decided to make a career change at that time when he was overlooked by the Springboks despite a series of impressive performances at Super Rugby level. He signed with top French club Bordeaux in February 2015 at the conclusion of the Currie Cup that season. Steven Kitshoff gained invaluable experience while competing in the Top 14  and was eventually drafted into the Bok squad in 2016. He won his first Test cap in the final match of the series against Ireland.

This was followed by solid performances in the Green and Gold for the freckle faced prop who had become known not only for his scrumming prowess, but he could also win a breakdown turnover at a crucial stage of a game. That marked him as a different breed and an asset to the team. But despite impressive performances coming off the bench, he had to wait 18 games and more than a year for his first Test start – against the All Blacks on 7 October 2017.

He would be an integral part of the Springbok set-up during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, albeit it mostly as a replacement. But Steven Kitshoff used the opportunity he had to show that the impact of the replacements usually dictated the outcome of big matches. This was certainly evident during the latter stages of the RWC, where he and the other reserves combined to finish off Japan, Wales and England. Although Tendai Mtawarira and Steven Kitshoff competed fiercely for that No 1 jersey for much of the last Rugby World Cup cycle, they also set out to become the best “loosehead combination” in the world. It’s fair to say that they realised that goal.

At the beginning of 2021 Steven Kitshoff signed another three year deal with Western Province and was subsequently given the reigns as captain. His mobility meant that he could also act as extra fetcher at the breakdowns, while his leadership skills also started to come to the fore as captain.

Fast forward four years since that debut start against the All Blacks, and Steven Kitshoff had gone on to win a total of 50 Test caps, facing the British and Irish Lions in the second test of their tour in South Africa.

Kitshoff will be 31 by the time the squad departs for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. As the Stormers captain, and as a senior Bok, he will have an important leadership role to play.