Jannie Engelbrecht

Jannie Engelbrecht (born 10 November 1938) was a Springbok rugby player who represented his country from 1960 to 1969.

Jannie Engelbrecht was born on 10 November 1938 to Attie and Joey Engelbrecht.

His siblings included two brothers and three sisters.

The elder Engelbrecht was a farmer who owned Kapel, a farm near Klawer in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Attie Engelbrecht contributed to organized agriculture and served on various religious and civil bodies.

Still only 20, Engelbrecht was called up for the 1959 Junior Springbok team that toured Argentina in August and September.

The Junior Springboks comprised young players on the verge of making their international debuts.

Captained by lock Peter Allen, the team won all 13 of their matches, including two in Buenos Aires against the local national team which featured Stanley and Ricardo Hogg.

In the event, the experience that 6 of the Springboks had gained on the 1959 Junior Springbok tour to Argentina was reflected in the home side's 18-10 win.

Engelbrecht was first selected to play for Western Province in 1960.

Engelbrecht's international career proper started with his selection for the first test against a touring Scottish team on 30 April 1960.

He joined 9 other debutants at the EPRU Stadium in Port Elizabeth, including Doug Hopwood and John Gainsford.

The test occurred in the midst of the state of emergency that had been declared on 30 March, following the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March, and which lasted until 31 August.

During that period some 20,000 black South Africans would be detained.

In the pre-dawn hours before the test government forces arrested 445 people in the townships around Port Elizabeth

The Glasgow Herald noted Craven's prediction of victory for the touring side but nevertheless favoured the untried Springboks.

Scottish hopes were pinned on the greater fitness of their team and mobility of their pack.

Engelbrecht was viewed as "a danger man with great pace and outside swerve".

Danie Craven later recalled that Engelbrecht had injured his shoulder beforehand, and that Craven had to bandage the limb before the wing took to the field.

Engelbrecht registered as an agricultural student at Stellenbosch University He lodged at Simonsberg Men's Residence, where he and two other students caused some consternation in 1961 when they "borrowed" two elephants from a visiting circus and brought it to the residence.

In 1963 Engelbrecht became primarius of Simonsberg.

After playing in an intervarsity match for the university's third team alongside Mannetjies Roux, Engelbrecht was promoted to the first team.

Engelbrecht represented a Western Province Universities side in 1963 that won 11-9 against the touring Wallabies in Cape Town.

He and Hannes Marais scored a try each in the match.

He gained a reputation for tenacity as a result of scoring two tries during a vital 1964 provincial match despite having broken his collarbone earlier in the game.

Danie Craven described Engelbrecht as "one of the best wings to ever have played for South Africa", while others described him as fast and elusive "with the excellent change of pace".

In Western Province's 20-11 triumph at Newlands Stadium over the touring French team on 18 July 1964 Engelbrecht added a try to that scored by his teammate Dave Stewart.

Engelbrecht is often remembered for his heroics during the 1 August 1964 Currie Cup clash between Western Province and Blue Bulls in Pretoria.

Northern Transvaal were the favorites, having beaten Province 29-5 in their previous encounter that year.

Their forwards dominated the first 40 minutes of the game, and the teams restarted with the home side 6-3 ahead.

During the second half Engelbrecht broke his right collarbone after being tackled by Northern's captain, Louis Schmidt.

Engelbrecht wanted to leave the field, but his captain, Doug Hopwood, refused.

At the time substitutions were not permitted, and Province would have had to continue play with 14 men.

Engelbrecht later recalled that the pain was so severe that he wanted to avoid at all costs being tackled again.

Spurred by this urgency, he twice ran around the opposition to score, contributing to Province's 16-11 victory and claim to the Currie Cup.

Schmidt had to suffer the ignominy of being booed by his home crowd as he left the field.

He was dropped after the match and retired at the age of 27.

He died in about 1975, while Joey died in 1992.

Jannie Engelbrecht received his secondary education at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, where he also played rugby on the wing.

He held records for most appearances for South Africa as a wing (66) until 2006, and most career test tries scored by a South African (8) which was surpassed by Gerrie Germishuys (12) by 1981.