Adriaan "Attie" Jacobus van Heerden (10 March 1898 – 14 October 1965) was a South African Olympian 400-metre hurdler,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for South Africa (Springboks), at provincial level for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

and

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, and at university level for

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

, as a

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

, as a . Attie van Heerden played for Wigan in the same era as fellow South African Afrikaner David Booysen.

Olympic appearance

Born 10 March 1898 in

Boshof Boshof is a farming town in the west of the Free State province, South Africa. The town is 55 km north-east of Kimberley on the R64 road. Established in March 1856 on the farm Vanwyksvlei, which had been named after a Griqua who sowed his ...

, Free State, Attie van Heerden participated in the

400-metre hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

in Antwerp, Belgium. He was eliminated at Round One, Heat Two as he did not finish. Attie van Heerden's personal best for the 400-metre hurdles was 57.9 seconds set in 1920. Attie van Heerden was crowned as the South African champion in the 120-yard hurdles (16.0 seconds), as well as in the 440-yard hurdles (58.2 seconds) at the South African Championships held in Johannesburg in 1920. Attie van Heerden is the only rugby

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

to have participated at the Olympic Games.

Playing career

International honours

Attie van Heerden won caps for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(RU) while at

in 1921 against New Zealand (2 matches), and won cap(s) for

(RL) while at Wigan in 1923–26 against England. Attie van Heerden did not participate in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

Tournament of 1920, held at

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

and

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, due to his participation at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. However, he was still selected for the

rugby team for the 1921 tour to Australia and New Zealand. Attie van Heerden scored the first ever try in a South Africa versus New Zealand international rugby union match. He scored five tries in the first official match of the 1921 tour, against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, this was a

record until 1956, when it was improved by

Roy Dryburgh Royden Gladstone Dryburgh (1 November 1929 – 10 May 2000) was a South African rugby union player, who captained the Springboks in two test matches. Playing career Dryburgh played provincial for Western Province from 1949 to 1955 and for Natal ...

, who scored six tries. Attie van Heerden scored 42 points, from 14 tries, and was the top try scorer on the

1921 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1921 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand was the third tour made by the Springboks rugby team, and their first tour to Australia and New Zealand. South Africa played three Test match (rugby union), Test matches against ...

Championship final appearances

Attie van Heerden played in

's 22–10 defeat by

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1923–24 season, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the 22–10 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

Final during the 1925–26 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Saturday 8 May 1926.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Attie van Heerden played , and scored a

's 21–4 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1923–24 season at

Athletic Grounds The Athletic Grounds ( ga, Páirc Lúthchleasaíochta) is a GAA stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling. Uses The stadium i ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on Saturday 12 April 1924. Attie van Heerden's try was scored between the posts behind a

police horse Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in the ...

that was on the field of play attempting to keep the 41,831 crowd at bay.

County League appearances

Attie van Heerden played in

's victory in the Lancashire League during the 1925–26 season.

County Cup Final appearances

Attie van Heerden played on the in

's 11–15 defeat by Swinton in the

1925–26 Lancashire Cup The 1925–26 Lancashire Cup was the eighteenth tournament in the history of this regional rugby league competition, and another new name was added to the trophy. This time it was the turn of Swinton Lions, Swinton, one of the founding members o ...

Final during the 1925–26 season at

The Cliff A cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliff, The Cliff or The Cliffs may also refer to: Buildings *Cliff Brewery, a former brewery near Ipswich, England *Cliff Palace, largest cliff dwelling in North America *The Cliffs, a histo ...

, Broughton on Wednesday 9 December 1925.

School days

Attie van Heerden was a pupil at

Paarl Gimnasium Paarl Gimnasium is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in the city of Paarl in the Western Cape province of South Africa. History Rev. van der Lingen founded the school in the centre of town in 1858. The school has pr ...

school in

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

, South Africa.

Genealogical Information

Attie van Heerden was the brother of the of the 1920s for

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

; Nicolaas Van Heerdenbr>
Van Heerden died 14 October 1965 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, Gauteng.

After Rugby

Following his retirement from rugby, Attie van Heerden returned to South Africa, and worked as a security guard for Iscor.

References

External links

Search for "Heerden" at rugbyleagueproject.org

->
Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
* *

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Heerden, Attie 1898 births 1965 deaths Afrikaner people Alumni of Paarl Gimnasium Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Leigh Leopards players Olympic athletes for South Africa Other Nationalities rugby league team players Orange Free State people People from Tokologo Local Municipality Rugby league wingers Rugby union wings South Africa international rugby union players South African male hurdlers South African people of Dutch descent South African rugby league players South African rugby union players Stellenbosch University alumni Wigan Warriors players

Olympic appearance

Playing career

International honours

Championship final appearances

Challenge Cup Final appearances

County League appearances

County Cup Final appearances

School days

Genealogical Information

After Rugby

References

Further reading

External links