Gerhard Mans (19 April 1962 – 4 May 2022) was a Namibian rugby union player. He was the father of Gerhard Mans, who represented Namibia in cycling.

Playing career

Born in Karasburg, a small town in southern South West Africa (now Namibia), Mans attended school in Gobabis and after school moved to Bloemfontein, South Africa for tertiary studies at the University of the Orange Free State.

He made his senior provincial debut in South Africa for the Orange Free State in 1982 and in 1985 returned to his home country. At the time South West Africa participated in the South African domestic rugby competitions. In 1987 Mans was appointed captain of South West Africa and under his leadership during 1987, South West Africa won the B division of the Currie Cup and gained promotion to the A division for the 1988 season.

In 1990, Namibia gained independence and consequently withdrew from the South African rugby competitions. Mans was selected as captain for the first Namibian national side after independence. Namibia played its first test match on 24 March 1990 in Windhoek against Zimbabwe and Mans scored one of his team's six tries in a 33–18 victory. In his second test, against Portugal, he scored a record six tries. Mans continued to play 27 test matches and scored 26 tries for Namibia and also captained the team 26 times. The only occasion that he did not captain the team, was during the 1995 World Cup qualifying final group stages against the Ivory Coast, when he played as a replacement and the team was captained by Henning Snyman. Mans retired at the end of the 1994 season, after Namibia failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup.

Test history

No. Opposition Result(NAM 1st) Position Tries Date Venue 1. 33–18 Wing (c) 1 24 March 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek 2. 86–9 Wing (c) 6 21 April 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek 3. 9–18 Wing (c) 1 2 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek 4. Wales 30–34 Wing (c) 1 9 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek 5. XV 15–24 Wing (c) 23 June 1990 South West Stadium, Windhoek 6. 36–6 Wing (c) 2 18 May 1991 Campo Universitaria, Madrid 7. Portugal 34–12 Wing (c) 1 24 May 1991 Universitario Lisboa, Lisbon 8. 17–7 Wing (c) 1 15 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 9. Italy 33–19 Wing (c) 1 22 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 10. Zimbabwe 34–15 Wing (c) 29 June 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 11. Zimbabwe 53–9 Wing (c) 6 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 12. 15–6 Wing (c) 1 20 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 13. Ireland 26–15 Wing (c) 1 27 July 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 14. Zimbabwe 22–19 Wing (c) 3 August 1991 Police Grounds, Harare 15. Zimbabwe 23–16 Fullback (c) 10 August 1991 Police Grounds, Harare 16. Zimbabwe 46–20 Fullback (c) 1 7 September 1991 South West Stadium, Windhoek 17. Zimbabwe 55–23 Wing (c) 2 9 May 1992 South West Stadium, Windhoek 18. Zimbabwe 69–26 Wing (c) 1 16 May 1992 South West Stadium, Windhoek 19. Wales 23–38 Wing (c) 5 June 1993 South West Stadium, Windhoek 20. Arabian Gulf 64–20 Wing (c)3 3 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi 21. 60–9 Wing (c)1 7 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi 22. Zimbabwe 41–16 Wing (c) 3 10 July 1993 RFUEA Ground, Nairobi 23. 12–31 Wing (c) 19 March 1994 South West Stadium, Windhoek 24. Zimbabwe 25–20 Wing (c) 14 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca 25. 12–13 Replacement 16 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca 26. 16–16 Fullback (c) 18 June 1994 COC Stadium, Casablanca 27. 22–12 Wing (c) 24 August 1994 South West Stadium, Windhoek

Accolades

Mans was one of the five nominees for 1988 SA Rugby player of the Year award. The other nominees for the award were Adolf Malan, Calla Scholtz, Tiaan Strauss and the eventual winner of the award, Naas Botha.

References