Tommie Laubscher
Full names: Thomas Gersbach
Date of birth: 8 Oct 1963
Place of birth: Vredenburg
School: Vredenburg
Springbok no: 620
Springbok debut province: Western Province
Physical: 1.80m, 101.6kg
Date of death: 26 May 2007 (Age 43)
Test summary: Tests: 6 Tries: 0
First Test: 8 Oct 1994 Age 31 - Tight-head Prop against Argentina at Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
Last Test: 18 Nov 1995 Age 32 - Tight-head Prop against England at Twickenham, London
Tours Scotland & Wales 1994 Italy & England 1995
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentVenueResultScoreProvince
08 Oct 1994 31Tight-head Prop Argentina Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Win: 42-22  WP
15 Oct 1994 31Tight-head Prop Argentina Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 46-26  WP
19 Nov 1994 31Tight-head Prop Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Win: 34-10  WP
26 Nov 1994 31Tight-head Prop Wales Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Win: 20-12  WP
12 Nov 1995 32Tight-head Prop Italy Olympic Stadium, Rome Win: 40-21  WP
18 Nov 1995 32Tight-head Prop England Twickenham, London Win: 24-14  WP

Thomas Gersbach (Tommie) Laubscher who was killed in a motor accident on May 26th, 2007 aged 43 was one of the friendliest and most laid-back props imaginable and also one of the strongest.

He and his son Tommy were walking to help somebody who had collided with a herd of cattle on a misty night on a country road close to his farm at Vredenburg on the West Coast when a bakkie, driven by a friend, struck him as Tommy tried to push his son out of the way.

He was a powerful tighthead prop who came to top rugby at a mature age. He had been playing in the Boland and for Boland when he moved to Western Province in 1991 when Alan Zondagh was coaching Western Province. After the unsuccessful Springbok tour to New Zealand in 1994, Kitch Christie took over the Springbok side's coaching, and chose a new front row - Os du Randt, Uli Schmidt and Tommy Laubscher - to face Argentina with their bajada scrum. South Africa won 42-22 and then won the second Test at Ellis Park 46-26.

He was not selected for the 1995 World Cup: he was an eccentric scrummager who did not always fit in with the rest of the pack though nobody liked scrumming against him and his fitness may not have been up to standard, but he was back in the Springbok side for the end-of-year tour to Italy and England. There were just the two tests and Laubscher played in both of them. The Springboks beat Italy 40-21 in Rome and England 24-14 at Twickenham.