Kevin Brian Henry de Klerk (born 6 June 1950 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa) 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 its m ...

player.

Playing career

Youth and Provincial career

De Klerk started his rugby career with

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, ...

when he was picked to represent the Transvaal 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 tou ...

tournament in 1968. De Klerk was again selected for the Schools team in 1969. His playing career with Transvaal continued after school, when he was selected for the under-20 age group team. De Klerk made his provincial first team debut for Transvaal in 1971.

International career

De Klerk 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 ...

on 8 June 1974 at

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

against the touring British Lions team, captained by

Willie John McBride William James McBride, CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a Lock (rugby union), lock for Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He pla ...

. De Klerk played in the second test in the series against the British Lions, but was dropped for the third test and replaced by

Moaner van Heerden Johannes Lodewikus 'Moaner' van Heerden (born 18 July 1951) is a former South African rugby union international player. He played as a lock. His son, Wikus van Heerden, is also a South African international who played for Saracens in the Guinnes ...

. In subsequent years it was often a choice between de Klerk and Van Heerden for the number 4 lock position in the Springbok team. Following the 1974 test series against the British Lions, de Klerk also represent the Springboks against the, 1975 French touring team, the 1976

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 ...

, the 1980

South American Jaguars The South American XV (sometimes known as CONSUR XV and formerly as South American Jaguars) is a rugby union team made up from the national rugby sides in the Sudamérica Rugby (formerly CONSUR) rugby federation. The squad was first formed i ...

and British Lions, and the 1981 Irish touring team. De Klerk’s last test match was against Ireland on his 31st birthday, 6 June 1981 at

Kings Park Stadium The Kings Park Stadium (known as the Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built with a capacity of 12,000 and ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. De Klerk played 13 test matches for the Springboks.

Test history

Accolades

De Klerk was named one of the five SA Rugby players of the Year for 1972. The four other players named, were two members of the 1972 England team that toured South Africa, namely

Sam Doble Samuel Arthur Doble (9 March 1944 – 17 September 1977) was an English rugby union full-back who played international rugby for England and club rugby for Moseley. He was a Wolverhampton school teacher by profession. Doble won only three caps f ...

and

John Pullin John Vivian Pullin (1 November 1941 – 5 February 2021) was an England international rugby union player. A hooker, he played club rugby for Bristol Rugby and captained the England national rugby union team for which he played 42 times between ...

, as well as the South African flanker

Jan Ellis Jan Hendrik Ellis (5 January 1942 – 8 February 2013) was a South African rugby union player who represented the Springboks in 38 tests, which at his retirement in 1976 was a record. His 7 test tries equalled Ferdie Bergh's record for forwards ...

and future Springbok Carel Fourie.

Rugby administration

Since his playing days and from 2000, De Klerk has served in various executive capacities with the Golden Lions Rugby Union, the Lions Rugby Company (Pty) Ltd. and Ellis Park Stadium (Pty) Ltd. He was elected president of the Golden Lions Rugby Union in July 2009 and held this position until his retirement in August 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Klerk, Kevin 1950 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Golden Lions players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Johannesburg