Benjamin Louwrens Osler (23 November 1901 – 28 April 1962) was a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played internationally for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Osler played mainly at fly-half for both South Africa, and his provincial team of Western Province. Osler was born at

Aliwal North Maletswai (previously Aliwal North) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was b ...

. He was first selected to play on 16 August 1924 against the Lions when they toured South Africa. This was the first of his 17 consecutive Test appearances for South Africa. Osler played in the other three Tests of the Lions tour, and contributed to South Africa winning three of the four Tests. The only Test of the series the Springboks did not win was their 3–3 draw in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

where Osler was temporarily knocked out. The next Springbok (as the South African team is known) series was hosting New Zealand's

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in 1928. The teams had met once before in a Test series, drawn 1–1 (with 1 match drawn) in New Zealand in 1921. The first Test was played in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

and the Springboks won 17–0, with Osler scoring a world record 14 points in the match. Osler played in the remaining three Tests and the series was eventually drawn 2–2; just like in 1921. Osler's first overseas tour was in 1931 when he captained the Springboks on their 1931–32 tour to the Home Nations. He captained the team and played in all four Tests; playing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Osler's Springboks became the second South African team, and only second of all time, to win a Grand Slam—a win over all four Home Nations on one tour. The tour continued into 1932 and the team eventually played 26 matches, with only one loss. In 1933 Osler played in his last Test series when

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

toured South Africa. They played a five match series and Osler played in all five Tests, with the Springboks winning the series by 3 tests to 2. During the series he scored a try, conversion and drop-goal. Osler is remembered as a fly-half who played a kicking game; that is, he would often kick for territory rather than run with the ball, or pass to his backs. His accuracy when kicking allowed South African teams he was in to play a forward oriented game, commonly referred to as ten-man rugby. Ten man rugby refers to the eight forward, scrum-half and fly-half. His contributions to international rugby were acknowledged with his induction into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

in 2007 and the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

in 2009.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osler, Bennie 1901 births 1962 deaths People from Aliwal North Villager FC players Hamilton RFC, Sea Point players South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School South Africa national rugby union team captains Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Alumni of Kingswood College (South Africa)