André was born in Newcastle and attended Dannhauser Primary School before finishing off his schooling at Dundee High School. During his school career, André 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, André was chosen to play rugby for the Northern Transvaal U21's in 1993. John Williams, the then Blue Bulls coach, spotted André playing for the U21's and selected him to play for the Blue Bulls in the Centre position. This was the start of a very illustruous professional career for André 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 André from achieving his ultimate goal in his career and that was to represent South Africa in the Rugby World Cup tournament. However, during his 10 year career span with the Springboks, André remained a stalwart in the Centre and Wing position scoring 50 points for the Bokke. He will be most remembered for his hatrick of tries in the test against Tonga in Cape Town in 1997; and his break-away, "under the poles" try against England during the test at Twickenham, in November 1997.

André 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.

André 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. This loyal servant of the game of rugby, lived a dream and played for the love of the game!

Andre's feet have remained firmly on the ground despite his successes on the rugby field. He enjoys playing golf and trying his hand at fishing in his spare time and is currently pursuing a career in Property Development in Durban. But he is most happy when he is at home spending time with his family.