Benjamin Louwrens Osler (23 November 1901 – 28 April 1962) was a

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 it ...

footballer who played internationally for

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

. Osler played mainly at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for both South Africa, and his provincial team of

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. Osler was born at

Aliwal North Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. History Sir Harry Smith, then ...

. He was first selected to play on 16 August 1924 against the

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when they toured South Africa. This was the first of his 17 consecutive Test appearances for South Africa. Osler played in the other three Tests of the Lions tour, and contributed to South Africa winning three of the four Tests. The only Test of the series the Springboks did not win was their 3–3 draw in Port Elizabeth where Osler was temporarily knocked out. The next Springbok (as the South African team is known) series was hosting New Zealand's

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in 1928. The teams had met once before in a Test series, drawn 1–1 (with 1 match drawn) in New Zealand in 1921. The first Test was played in

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and the Springboks won 17–0, with Osler scoring a world record 14 points in the match. Osler played in the remaining three Tests and the series was eventually drawn 2–2; just like in 1921. Osler's first overseas tour was in 1931 when he captained the Springboks on their 1931–32 tour to the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

. He captained the team and played in all four Tests; playing against

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and

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. Osler's Springboks became the second South African team, and only second of all time, to win a

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—a win over all four Home Nations on one tour. The tour continued into 1932 and the team eventually played 26 matches, with only one loss. In 1933 Osler played in his last Test series when Australia toured South Africa. They played a five match series and Osler played in all five Tests, with the Springboks winning the series by 3 tests to 2. During the series he scored a

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, conversion and drop-goal. Osler is remembered as a fly-half who played a kicking game; that is, he would often kick for territory rather than run with the ball, or pass to his backs. His accuracy when kicking allowed South African teams he was in to play a forward oriented game, commonly referred to as ten-man rugby.

Ten man rugby 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 ...

refers to the eight forward, scrum-half and fly-half. His contributions to international rugby were acknowledged with his induction into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

in 2007 and the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osler, Bennie 1901 births 1962 deaths People from Aliwal North Villager FC players Hamilton RFC, Sea Point players South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School South Africa national rugby union team captains Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Alumni of Kingswood College (South Africa)