Marthinus "Oupa" Versfeld (15 May 1860 – 1 September 1931) was a South African international

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.

Early life and family

Born in Constantia and educated in

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 ...

, where he attended SACS, Versfeld was the oldest of five brothers, four of whom played representative rugby. He and his second youngest brother,

Hasie Charles "Hasie" Versfeld (24 September 1866 – 6 January 1941) was a South African international rugby union player. Born in Wynberg, Cape Town, he was educated at Green Point Grammar School before playing provincial rugby for Western Province ...

represented South Africa. His brother Loftus played for Transvaal and as an administrator was a founding member of the

Eastern Province Rugby Union Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and of the Pretoria Rugby Subunion, which in 1938 became

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

. The rugby stadium, Loftus Versfeld is named after him. The middle brother, Jan Hendrik Christoffel (John) represented

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 Provinc ...

from 1885 to 1889. All four brothers were members and played for the Hamiltons RFC, based in

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is one of Cape Town's most affluent and densely populated suburbs, situated between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). Moving from ...

, Cape Town. Versfeld died in 1931, in Cape Town, at the age of 71.

Rugby career

Versfeld played provincial rugby with

and made his debut for the union in 1884. In 1885 all four brothers were in the Hamilton side that won the inaugural WP Grand Challenge Cup. In the same year they were on the Combined Cape Town team that competed in the first interprovincial competition at

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

. Oupa and Hasie played alongside John in a Cape Town XV against Bill MacLagan's 1891 British tourists. Hasie became the first South African to score a try against an international touring side in Cape Town's 1–15 loss at Newlands on 9 July 1891. Versfeld made his only

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

appearances for

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

against the touring 1891

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. He played, as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, in all three Test matches of what was South Africa's first series as a Test nation. His brother,

Hasie Versfeld Charles "Hasie" Versfeld (24 September 1866 – 6 January 1941) was a South African international rugby union player. Born in Wynberg, Cape Town, he was educated at Green Point Grammar School before playing provincial rugby for Western Province ...

, was also selected to play in the 3rd Test of the series, making the Versfelds the first brothers to represent South Africa.

Test history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Versfeld, Oupa South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players 1860 births 1931 deaths Rugby union players from Cape Town Western Province (rugby union) players Hamilton RFC, Sea Point players Rugby union forwards Cape Colony sportspeople

Early life and family

Rugby career

Test history

See also

References