Hendrik Jacobus van Zyl (born 31 January 1936) is a South African former

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 ...

international. Born on a farm outside of

Ventersdorp Ventersdorp is a town of 4,200 in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. It was the seat of the defunct Ventersdorp Local Municipality until 2016. Ventersdorp is centrally located, making it easier to access m ...

, van Zyl learnt his rugby while in boarding school. He was a winger known for his long strides and made his provincial debut for

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, ...

in 1959. Van Zyl was capped in 10 Tests 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 ...

, scoring two tries on debut to help them to a win over New Zealand at Ellis Park in 1960. On the 1960–61 tour of Europe, van Zyl played in three of the Tests, before having to return home as his father had been killed in a lightning strike. He scored a hat-trick against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in his second last Test match. In 1962, van Zyl left the Springboks to play

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 ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:van Zyl, Hennie 1936 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union wings Golden Lions players Rugby union players from North West (South African province) People from Ventersdorp South African rugby league players

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