Gerhard Mans (rugby union)

Gerhard Mans
Birth nameGerhard Mans
Date of birth(1962-04-19)19 April 1962
Place of birthKarasburg, South West Africa (now Namibia)
Date of death4 May 2022(2022-05-04) (aged 60)
Place of deathWindhoek, Namibia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
SchoolWennie du Plessis, Gobabis
UniversityUniversity of the Free State
ChildrenGerhard Mans
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Fullback
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1982–1984 Orange Free State 24 ()
1985–1989 South West Africa ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990–1994 Namibia 27 (114)

Gerhard Mans (19 April 1962 – 4 May 2022) was a Namibian rugby union player. He was the father of Gerhard Mans, who represented Namibia in cycling.

Playing career

Born in Karasburg, a small town in southern South West Africa (now Namibia), Mans attended school in Gobabis and after school moved to Bloemfontein, South Africa for tertiary studies at the University of the Orange Free State.

He made his senior provincial debut in South Africa for the Orange Free State in 1982 and in 1985 returned to his home country. At the time South West Africa participated in the South African domestic rugby competitions. In 1987 Mans was appointed captain of South West Africa and under his leadership during 1987, South West Africa won the B division of the Currie Cup and gained promotion to the A division for the 1988 season.

In 1990, Namibia gained independence and consequently withdrew from the South African rugby competitions. Mans was selected as captain for the first Namibian national side after independence. Namibia played its first test match on 24 March 1990 in Windhoek against Zimbabwe and Mans scored one of his team's six tries in a 33–18 victory. In his second test, against Portugal, he scored a record six tries. Mans continued to play 27 test matches and scored 26 tries for Namibia and also captained the team 26 times. The only occasion that he did not captain the team, was during the 1995 World Cup qualifying final group stages against the Ivory Coast, when he played as a replacement and the team was captained by Henning Snyman. Mans retired at the end of the 1994 season, after Namibia failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup.

Test history

No. Opposition Result
(NAM 1st)
Position Tries Date Venue
1.  Zimbabwe 33–18 Wing (c) 1 24 March 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek
2.  Portugal 86–9 Wing (c) 6 21 April 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek
3.  Wales 9–18 Wing (c) 1 2 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek
4. Wales Wales 30–34 Wing (c) 1 9 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek
5.  France XV 15–24 Wing (c) 23 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek
6.  Spain 36–6 Wing (c) 2 18 May 1991 Campo Universitaria, Madrid
7. Portugal Portugal 34–12 Wing (c) 1 24 May 1991 Universitario Lisboa, Lisbon
8.  Italy 17–7 Wing (c) 1 15 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
9. Italy Italy 33–19 Wing (c) 1 22 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
10. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 34–15 Wing (c) 29 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
11. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 53–9 Wing (c) 6 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
12.  Ireland 15–6 Wing (c) 1 20 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
13. Ireland Ireland 26–15 Wing (c) 1 27 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
14. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 22–19 Wing (c) 3 August 1991 Police Grounds, Harare
15. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 23–16 Fullback (c) 10 August 1991 Police Grounds, Harare
16. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 46–20 Fullback (c) 1 7 September 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek
17. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 55–23 Wing (c) 2 9 May 1992 South West Stadium, Windhoek
18. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 69–26 Wing (c) 1 16 May 1992 South West Stadium, Windhoek
19. Wales Wales 23–38 Wing (c) 5 June 1993 South West Stadium, Windhoek
20. Arabian Gulf 64–20 Wing (c) 3 3 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi
21.  Kenya 60–9 Wing (c) 1 7 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi
22. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 41–16 Wing (c) 3 10 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi
23.  Russia 12–31 Wing (c) 19 March 1994 South West Stadium, Windhoek
24. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 25–20 Wing (c) 14 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca
25.  Ivory Coast 12–13 Replacement 16 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca
26.  Morocco 16–16 Fullback (c) 18 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca
27.  Hong Kong 22–12 Wing (c) 24 August 1994 South West Stadium, Windhoek

Accolades

Mans was one of the five nominees for 1988 SA Rugby player of the Year award. The other nominees for the award were Adolf Malan, Calla Scholtz, Tiaan Strauss and the eventual winner of the award, Naas Botha.


This page was last updated at 2023-07-24 03:52 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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