RIP André Skinner

André Skinner was born in Pretoria but educated at Hoërskool Brits. In 1977 he was a lock for Northern Transvaal at the Craven Week in Oudtshoorn, an outstanding lock.

His first class career kicked off in 1981. That year he first played for Northern Transvaal, captained by Naas Botha, and won the Currie Cup. Skinner played for the Gazelles and the Junior Springboks. At the time he was playing for Defence. Later he played for Tukkies.

The Gazelles (South Africa Under-23) beat Ireland 18-15 in Pretoria in May and the Junior Springboks beat the South African Barbarians 36-19 in Durban in June. It was a good year for Skinner. His lock partner for the Gazelles was Vleis Visagie and for the Junior Springboks Hennie Bekker.

In 1985, after 34 matches for Northern Transvaal, Skinner moved across to Transvaal for whom he played 48 times, ending in 1988 when he returned to Pretoria, played for the Harlequins and was in the Northern Transvaal team that beat Western Province in the Currie Cup Final. He was in a Currie Cup-winning side in his first year of provincial rugby and his last. He was in a Transvaal team which won the short-lived (1983-92) Lion Cup in 1986 and 1987.

He was an old-fashioned lock – big, able to jump in the line-outs under his own steam, a dominating player.

André Skinner was born in Pretoria on January 13, 1957. He contracted cancer of the kidney and had a battle of some 18 months before dying of organ failure, just after midnight on December 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife Yolanda, son Marné and daughter Donné. He and Yolanda had a series of bed shops.

By Paul Dobson