Hendrik Johannes Bekker (born 12 September 1952 in

Nuwerus Nuwerus is a settlement in Matzikama Municipality, West Coast District in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Village 16 km south-east of Bitterfontein and 70 km north-west of Vanrhynsdorp Van Rhynsdorp (Afrikaans: Vanrhynsdorp) is a set ...

Western Cape 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 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 ...

is a former South African

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 ...

player.

Early life and career

Bekker was born in the small town of Nuwerus in the North-western region of the

, but spent most of his school years in

Goodwood, Cape Town Goodwood is a suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is situated in the Tygerberg region of the City of Cape Town. It is 10 kilometres from Cape Town and accessible from the N1, N7 and N2 highways. The town was established i ...

where he attended JG Meiring High School and represented the school's first team for three years. In 1970 he was selected to represent the Western Province schools team at the annual

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The to ...

tournament held in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe).

Playing career

Provincial career

After school, Bekker enrolled at Paarl Teachers Training College and made his provincial debut for Boland on 24 May 1973 against a touring London Counties team. In 1974 Bekker moved to Stellenbosch University to further his studies and joined the University's rugby club,

Maties 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 ...

. He made his debut 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 Provin ...

on 10 August 1974 against Transvaal and scored his first try for Western Province. Two years later, in 1977 Bekker received his call up for military service and he had to join the Defence Force in

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. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

. During his time in Bloemfontein he played 27 matches for the Free State. Bekker returned to Stellenbosch in 1979 and again joined the Maties. He also returned to the Western Province team and represented the province until his retirement from playing at the end of 1985. During the 1980s Bekker was part of the Western Province team that won the Currie Cup in 1982,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. At the time of his retirement, Bekker scored 44 tries for Western Province, which was the Western Province try scoring record.

International career

Bekker made his test debut for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

during the 1981 tour of New Zealand in the first test on 15 August 1981 at

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium was closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 eart ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand. He was not selected for the second test but returned to the side for the third test match against New Zealand at Eden Park,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. Bekker played a further 8 matches on tour for the Springboks, scoring three tries.

Test history

Accolades

Bekker was named the SA Rugby player of the Year for 1983. The other nominees for the award in 1983 were

Divan Serfontein David Jacobus 'Divan' Serfontein (born 3 Augustus 1954 in Krugersdorp, South Africa) is a former Springbok rugby union player. Playing career Provincial career Serfontein started his rugby career in 1974 at where he was selected for the club' ...

Carel du Plessis Carel Johan du Plessis (born 24 June 1960) is a former South African rugby union coach and player. Playing career Du Plessis played for Western Province and the Springboks, his skills earning him the nickname the ''Prince of Wings''.

, Liaan Kirkham and Ray Mordt.

Coaching

On 1 October 1985, Bekker was appointed assistant–organiser for coaching at the South African Rugby Board. From 1986 to 1989 he acted as forward–coach for Western Province and in 1990 he replaced

Dawie Snyman Dawid Stefanus Lubbe Snyman (born 5 July 1949) is a former South African rugby union player and coach. Playing career Snyman represented the Free State schools at two consecutive Craven Week tournaments. After school and completing his militar ...

as head coach of Western Province.

Personal

Bekker is the father of

Andries Bekker Andries Bekker (born 5 December 1983 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player for the Springbok rugby team as well as Kobelco Steelers in the Japanese Top League. Playing career Bekker made his South African debut in 2 ...

, a former Western Province, Stormers and Springbok Rugby player. Andries is currently playing for

Kobelco Steelers The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of ...

in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekker, Hennie 1952 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Western Province (rugby union) players People from Matzikama Local Municipality Rugby union locks Rugby union players from the Western Cape