Jan Hendrik "Jannie" de Beer (born 22 April 1971) is a South African former rugby union player. He played fly-half for the South African national team, the Springboks. In all he represented the Springboks in 13 tests, scoring 181 points. He was principally known as a kicking fly-half.
Career Born in Welkom, de Beer represented at the 1989 Craven Week tournament. He made his senior provincial debut for the in 1990 as a 19-year-old.
De Beer made his début against the British & Irish Lions in 1997, being brought in for the dropped Henry Honiball whose running game had been contained by the Lions' defence in the first two of the three tests. He failed however to establish himself properly in the Springbok side.
De Beer is most famous for his world record five drop goals in a single test match, set in the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Paris against England. The Springboks won the match 44–21, knocking England out of the tournament. However, his attempts to repeat the tactic in the semi-final versus Australia backfired, as despite several attempts he only scored one in the match, and the Australians closed him down. It proved to be his final appearance for the Springboks.
A professed Christian, de Beer credits his faith in God for his successes. De Beer retired from professional rugby in 2002 due to a knee injury.
At the end of 2019, de Beer was appointed as the director of rugby at the Windhoek Gymnasium.
Test history No. Opponents Results(SA 1st) Position Points Dates Venue 1. 35–16 Flyhalf 13 (2 conv, 3 pen) 5 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 2. 32–35 Flyhalf 22 (2 conv, 4 pen, 2 drop) 19 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 3. 20–32 Flyhalf 10 (1 try, 1 conv, 1 pen) 2 August 1997 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 4. 35–55 Flyhalf 6 (3 conv) 9 August 1997 Eden Park, Auckland 5. 61–22 Flyhalf 26 (1 try, 6 conv, 3 pen) 23 August 1997 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 6. 52–10 Replacement 22 November 1997 Parc des Princes, Paris 7. 68–10 Flyhalf 2 (1 conv) 6 December 1997 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 8. 10–9 Flyhalf 5 (1 conv, 1 pen) 14 August 1999 Newlands, Cape Town 9. 46–29 Flyhalf 16 (5 conv, 2 pen) 3 October 1999 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 10. 47–3 Flyhalf 12 (6 conv) 10 October 1999 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 11. 39–3 Flyhalf 14 (4 conv, 2 pen) 15 October 1999 Hampden Park, Glasgow 12. 44–21 Flyhalf 34 (2 conv, 5 pen, 5 drop) 24 October 1999 Stade de France, Paris 13. 21–27 Flyhalf 21 (6 pen, 1 drop) 30 October 1999 Twickenham, London Legend: pen = penalty (3 pts.); conv = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (3 pts.).
See also List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 653
References
External links
Official website of the IRB Rugby World Cup 2003, accessed 17 October 2005. “Star Q & A: Jannie de Beer”, accessed 17 October 2005. “Rugby World Cup 1999: De Beer Diamond”, accessed 17 October 2005.