Jannie Engelbrecht
Full names: Jan Pieter
Date of birth: 10 Nov 1938
Place of birth: Cape Town
School: Paul Roos Gymnasium
Springbok no: 347
Springbok debut province: Western Province
Physical: 1.85m, 83.9kg
Current age: 85
Test summary: Tests: 33 Tries: 8
First Test: 30 Apr 1960 Age 21 - Right Wing against Scotland at Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
Last Test: 16 Aug 1969 Age 30 - Right Wing against Australia at Kingspark, Durban
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentVenueResultScoreProvince
30 Apr 1960 21Right Wing Scotland Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Win: 18-10  WP
03 Dec 1960 22Right Wing Wales Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Win: 3-0  WP
17 Dec 1960 22Right Wing Ireland Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin Win: 8-3  WP
07 Jan 1961 22Right Wing England Twickenham, London Win: 5-0  WP
21 Jan 1961 22Right Wing Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Win: 12-5  WP
18 Feb 1961 22Right Wing France Stade Olympique, Colombes, Paris Draw: 0-0  WP
05 Aug 1961 22Right Wing Australia Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 28-31 try WP
12 Aug 1961 22Right Wing Australia Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Win: 23-11  WP
21 Jul 1962 23Right Wing Britain Kingspark, Durban Win: 3-0  WP
04 Aug 1962 23Right Wing Britain Newlands, Cape Town Win: 8-3  WP
25 Aug 1962 23Right Wing Britain Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Win: 34-14  WP
10 Aug 1963 24Right Wing Australia Newlands, Cape Town Lose: 5-9  WP
24 Aug 1963 24Right Wing Australia Ellispark, Johannesburg Lose: 9-11  WP
23 May 1964 25Right Wing Wales Kingspark, Durban Win: 24-3  WP
25 Jul 1964 25Right Wing France P.A.M. Brink Stadium, Springs Lose: 6-8  WP
10 Apr 1965 26Right Wing Ireland Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin Lose: 6-9  WP
17 Apr 1965 26Right Wing Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Lose: 5-81 try WP
19 Jun 1965 26Right Wing Australia Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Lose: 11-182 tries WP
26 Jun 1965 26Right Wing Australia Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane Lose: 8-12  WP
31 Jul 1965 26Right Wing New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Lose: 3-6  WP
21 Aug 1965 26Right Wing New Zealand Carisbrook, Dunedin Lose: 0-13  WP
04 Sep 1965 26Right Wing New Zealand Lancaster Park (Jade stadium), Christchurch Win: 19-16  WP
18 Sep 1965 26Right Wing New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Lose: 3-20  WP
15 Jul 1967 28Right Wing France Kingspark, Durban Win: 26-3  WP
22 Jul 1967 28Right Wing France Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Win: 16-31 try WP
29 Jul 1967 28Right Wing France Ellispark, Johannesburg Lose: 14-19  WP
12 Aug 1967 28Right Wing France Newlands, Cape Town Draw: 6-6  WP
08 Jun 1968 29Right Wing Britain Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Win: 25-20  WP
22 Jun 1968 29Right Wing Britain Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Draw: 6-6  WP
09 Nov 1968 29Right Wing France Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Win: 12-9  WP
16 Nov 1968 30Right Wing France Stade Olympique, Colombes, Paris Win: 16-111 try WP
02 Aug 1969 30Right Wing Australia Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 30-11  WP
16 Aug 1969 30Right Wing Australia Kingspark, Durban Win: 16-92 tries WP

Jannie played for Stellenbosch's third team in his first intervarsity match - and intervarsities reveals the players with big match temperament. It was immediately evident that he had the heart for the big occasion.

He and Mannetjies Roux, who both played for South Africa so often, were by coincidence both in the third team that day and they destroyed their opponents.

After the match Jannie was promoted to the first team and proved such a success that he ultimately played for his country.

He hurt his shoulder just before playing his first test for South Africa against Scotland and I feared that this would be a repetition of what had happened to Leon Barnard in 1933. Barnard had to withdraw due to injury and he never played for South Africa.

I didn't want that to happen to Jannie so I said to him: "My boy, you simply must play on Saturday." He tried out his shoulder but felt that he couldn't play. I then told him to carry out certain actions and I bandaged his shoulder in such a way that it would not restrict the movements essential to a wing.

We had an executive meeting before the test was played and I warned: "Jannie, you must bandage your shoulder properly. I don't want you to play only one test for South Africa. You cannot afford to let the team down; you must go out there and do your best for South Africa."

Eventually he interrupted the meeting and asked me to bandage his shoulder which I did. He played and never looked back.

Fast and powerful, he is one of the best wings ever to have played for South Africa; that's why he has scored more tries in the Springbok jersey than any other player-forty-four in all matches in the green and gold.

A strong-willed but charming man, Jannie today is as successful in his private and business life as he was on the rugby fields of the world.