Fanie Louw
Full names: Stephanus Cornelius
Date of birth: 16 Sep 1909
Place of birth: Paarl
School: Paarl Boys High
Springbok no: 222
Springbok debut province: Western Province
Physical: 1.83m, 88.5kg
Date of death: 13 Jul 1940 (Age 30)
Test summary: Tests: 12 Tries: 2
First Test: 8 Jul 1933 Age 23 - Tight-head Prop against Australia at Newlands, Cape Town
Last Test: 10 Sep 1938 Age 28 - Tight-head Prop against Britain at Newlands, Cape Town
Tours Wales, Ireland, England & Scotland 1931-32 Australia & New Zealand 1937
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentVenueResultScoreProvince
08 Jul 1933 23Tight-head Prop Australia Newlands, Cape Town Win: 17-3  WP
22 Jul 1933 23Flank Australia Kingsmead, Durban Lose: 6-21  WP
12 Aug 1933 23Tight-head Prop Australia Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 12-3  WP
26 Aug 1933 23Tight-head Prop Australia Crusaders (St George's Park), Port Elizabeth Win: 11-01 try WP
02 Sep 1933 23Tight-head Prop Australia Springbokpark, Bloemfontein Lose: 4-15  WP
26 Jun 1937 27Loose-head Prop Australia Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Win: 9-5  Tvl
14 Aug 1937 27Tight-head Prop New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Lose: 7-13  Tvl
04 Sep 1937 27Tight-head Prop New Zealand Lancaster Park (Jade stadium), Christchurch Win: 13-6  Tvl
25 Sep 1937 28Tight-head Prop New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Win: 17-6  Tvl
06 Aug 1938 28Tight-head Prop Britain Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 26-121 try Tvl
03 Sep 1938 28Tight-head Prop Britain Crusaders (St George's Park), Port Elizabeth Win: 19-3  Tvl
10 Sep 1938 28Tight-head Prop Britain Newlands, Cape Town Lose: 16-21  Tvl

Fanie, Boy's brother, was a little bit shorter than Boy and not quite as versatile a player, but he had a very jovial manner, always well liked, and forever up to some kind of mischief.

Here was a fearless man. An example: Stellenbosch were playing against Paarl, and Fanie, going for a tackle, missed his mark and after hitting the ground rolled for a good two metres, which goes to show how much he had put into the tackle.

He and I were room-mates on the 1937 tour, and I must confess that I certainly preferred the way things were then. When you chose your room-mate you stayed room-mates for the whole of the tour. Having had the experience of touring with Fanie on the 1931/32 tour, it seemed natural that we should team up as roommates. As a result he and I got to know each other very well.

He often complained of a bad pain in his back, particularly after a tough match. I used to massage his back to give him relief but it was so bad sometimes that he would vomit. He always ascribed the pain to having worked underground in the gold-mines.

Two or three years after the 1937 tour, Western Province were playing a match against Transvaal, in Johannesburg. Fanie, who was the Transvaal skipper, had the peculiar habit of sneaking up from behind and biting one's ear. At half-time, while I was standing chatting to Gerry Brand, I received a painful nip on my ear and I turned and said: "Hello, Fanie," knowing immediately who it was.

We exchanged a few pleasantries and he said: "You know, Danie, I'm not feeling all that well. I've got flu and I shouldn't be playing."

After returning to Pretoria after the match I walked into my hotel room and the radio was on. The announcer said: "We regret to announce that Fanie Louw, who captained Transvaal to their win over Western Province this afternoon, has just died."

An autopsy was performed and to everyone's amazement it was found that the aorta, which is normally the size of half-a-crown, was in Fame's case so narrow that the doctor could hardly fit his pinkie into it. He'd been born with this malformed aorta and also had only one kidney.

He was a very light forward as forwards go and yet possessed tremendous power. I cannot recall ever seeing Fanie Louw budge an inch, even against props much bigger than himself.