This article is about the rugby player. For the painter, see Jan de Beer (painter). For the bowls international, see Jannie de Beer (bowls).

Jan Hendrik "Jannie" de Beer (born 22 April 1971) is a South African former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for the South African national team, the Springboks. In all he represented the Springboks in 13 tests, scoring 181 points.[1][2] He was principally known as a kicking fly-half.[3]

Career

Born in Welkom, de Beer represented Northern Free State at the 1989 Craven Week tournament. He made his senior provincial debut for the Free State in 1990 as a 19-year-old.[2][3]

De Beer made his début against the British & Irish Lions in 1997, being brought in for the dropped Henry Honiball whose running game had been contained by the Lions' defence in the first two of the three tests.[4] He failed however to establish himself properly in the Springbok side.

De Beer is most famous for his world record five drop goals in a single test match, set in the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Paris against England. The Springboks won the match 44-21, knocking England out of the tournament.[5] However, his attempts to repeat the tactic in the semi-final versus Australia backfired, as despite several attempts he only scored one in the match, and the Australians closed him down.[6] It proved to be his final appearance for the Springboks.

A professed Christian, de Beer credits his faith in God for his successes. De Beer retired from professional rugby in 2002 due to a knee injury.[7]

At the end of 2019, de Beer was appointed as the director of rugby at the Windhoek Gymnasium.[8]

Test history

No. Opponents Results
(SA 1st)		 Position Points Dates Venue
1.  British Lions 35–16 Flyhalf 13 (2 conv, 3 pen) 5 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
2.  New Zealand 32–35 Flyhalf 22 (2 conv, 4 pen, 2 drop) 19 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
3.  Australia 20–32 Flyhalf 10 (1 try, 1 conv, 1 pen) 2 August 1997 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
4.  New Zealand 35–55 Flyhalf 6 (3 conv) 9 August 1997 Eden Park, Auckland
5.  Australia 61–22 Flyhalf 26 (1 try, 6 conv, 3 pen) 23 August 1997 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
6.  France 52–10 Replacement 22 November 1997 Parc des Princes, Paris
7.  Scotland 68–10 Flyhalf 2 (1 conv) 6 December 1997 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
8.  Australia 10–9 Flyhalf 5 (1 conv, 1 pen) 14 August 1999 Newlands, Cape Town
9.  Scotland 46–29 Flyhalf 16 (5 conv, 2 pen) 3 October 1999 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10.  Spain 47–3 Flyhalf 12 (6 conv) 10 October 1999 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
11.  Uruguay 39–3 Flyhalf 14 (4 conv, 2 pen) 15 October 1999 Hampden Park, Glasgow
12.  England 44–21 Flyhalf 34 (2 conv, 5 pen, 5 drop) 24 October 1999 Stade de France, Paris
13.  Australia 21–27 Flyhalf 21 (6 pen, 1 drop) 30 October 1999 Twickenham, London

Legend: pen = penalty (3 pts.); conv = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (3 pts.).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Jannie de Beer | Rugby Union | Players and Officials". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b Schoeman, Chris (2000). Who's who of South African rugby 2000 (5th ed.). Cape Town: Strobe Communications. p. 24. ISBN 0620261889. OCLC 56517006.
  3. ^ a b Dobson, Paul (1999). Champions and challengers. London: Struik. p. 74. ISBN 1-86872-393-3. OCLC 43526923.
  4. ^ Colquhoun, Andy (1999). The South African Rugby Annual 1999. Cape Town: MWP Media Sport. pp. 66–72. ISBN 0958423148.
  5. ^ O'Sullivan, John. "RWC Moments: Jannie de Beer's five drop goals". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Classic Encounter - Wallabies vs Springboks World Cup Semifinal 1999 - Rugby News & Videos". www.rugbydump.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  7. ^ "De Beer hangs up his boots". News24. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Drop king De Beer appointed at Windhoek Gymnasium". The Namibian. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

External links