Johannes Petrus "Jannie" Claassens (born 30 June 1969) 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 it ...
player.
Playing career
As a schoolboy Claassens represented at the 1988
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. He made his provincial debut for in 1990 and played 102 matches for the union. During 1992, Claassens was selected for the
World XV
A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...
that
tour New Zealand to mark the centenary of the
New Zealand Rugby Union
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...
.
In 1994 he toured with the
Springboks to New Zealand and to
Britain and Ireland. Claassens did not play in any test matches but played in eight tour matches, scoring three tries for the Springboks. In 1993 and in 1996, he represented
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 ...
in sevens.
Accolades
Claassens was voted as one of the five South Africa Young Players of the Year for 1990, along with
Andrew Aitken, Bernard Fourie,
Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from ...
and
Theo van Rensburg.
See also
*
List of South Africa national rugby union players
South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several players from the South Africa national rugby union team have joined the IRB and International Hall of Fame.
Individual records
Career
South Africa's '' ...
– Springbok no. 611
*
List of South Africa national rugby sevens players
Below is a listing of all South African rugby union players that have represented the Blitzbokke since 1993.
The "Years" column indicates the years during which each player was active. Tournaments that formed part of the Sevens World Series si ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claassens, Jannie
1969 births
Living people
South African rugby union players
South Africa international rugby union players
Blue Bulls players
South Africa international rugby sevens players
Rugby union players from Welkom
Rugby union centres