After finishing school, Knoetze furthered his studies at
Stellenbosch University. At university he played for the
Maties under–20 side and was selected for the
Western Province under–20 team and the South Africa Universities under–20 team. His first match for the Western Province senior team was in 1984 against
South Western Districts. Knoetze was part of the Western Province team that won the
Currie Cup in
1985 and in
1986. He played 110 matches for Western Province, scoring 43 tries. Knoetze made his test debut for the
Springboks against the
World XV on 26 August 1989 at his home ground,
Newlands in
Cape Town. He also played in the second test against the World XV and went on the
1992 South Africa tour of France and England. He played in six tour matches for the Springboks and scored two tries.
Test history ==Accolades==