Gerry Brand
{{Short description|South African rugby union player}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Gerry Brand
| image = Gerry Brand (1937).png
| caption =Gerry Brand in 1937.
| birth_name = Gerhard Hamilton Brand
| birth_date = 8 October 1906
| birth_place = Cape Town, South Africa
| death_date = {{death-date and age|4 February 1996|8 October 1906}}
| death_place =Cape Town, South Africa
| height = {{convert|1.78|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{convert|73.9|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| ru_position = Full-back and Wing
| amatyears1 =
| amatteam1 = Hamiltons RFC
| amatapps1 =
| amatpoints1 =
| ru_amupdate =
| years1 =
| clubs1 =
| apps1 =
| points1 =
| ru_clubupdate =
| ru_province1 = Western Province
| ru_provinceyears1 =1927–45
| ru_provincepoints1 =
| ru_provinceupdate =13 December 2013
| ru_sevensnationalyears1 =
| ru_sevensnationalteam1 =
| ru_sevensnationalcomp1 =
| ru_sevensupdate =
| repteam1 = South Africa
| repyears1 = 1928–38
| repcaps1 = 16
| reppoints1 = 55
| ru_ntupdate = 13 December 2013
| coachteams1 =
| coachyears1 =
| ru_coachupdate =
| occupation =Estate agent, Businessman
| spouse =
| children =
| relatives =
| school = Sea Point Boys High School, Cape Town
| university =
| website =
}}
Gerhard Hamilton Brand (8 October 1906 – 4 February 1996) was a Springbok rugby union footballer who played in 16 tests between 1928 and 1938. Brand has been described as the best kicker of his era, as well as a "magnificent defensive player" with a "wonderful tackle".{{cite web|title=Gerry Brand, South Africa|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/southafrica/rugby/player/3561.html|publisher=ESPNScrum.com|access-date=11 December 2013}}{{cite book|last=Dobson|first=Paul|title=30 Super Springboks|year=1995|publisher=Human & Rousseau|location=Kaapstad|isbn=978-0798134118}} According to Guinness World Records he executed the longest drop goal in rugby union to date.{{cite web|last=Llewellyn |first=Dai |title=Gerry Brand |url=http://www.rfu.com/twickenhamstadium/worldrugbymuseum/walloffame/gerrybrand.aspx |publisher=World Rugby Museum Hall of Fame |access-date=11 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413022838/http://www.rfu.com/twickenhamstadium/worldrugbymuseum/walloffame/gerrybrand.aspx |archive-date=13 April 2013 |df=dmy }}{{cite web|title=Longest Drop Kick, Rugby Union|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-3000/longest-drop-kick-rugby-union/|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=11 December 2013}} Brand's 55 test career points for the Springboks set a 27-year record (1938–65), which was eventually surpassed by Keith Oxlee.Before Brand, the previous record for most points in all test matches played had been held by Bennie Osler, who had amassed 46 points in 17 test caps by his retirement in 1933.([http://www.espnscrum.com/southafrica/rugby/story/162950.html])
Early life
Gerhard Hamilton Brand received his second name for the Hamilton Rugby Football Club in Sea Point, Cape Town, which had won the Western Province Rugby Football Union's 1906 Grand Challenge Cup club competition two daysAccording to an alternative source Brand was born on the day of Hamiltons' victory over Stellenbosch.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127609931/14200486?zoomLevel=3]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} before his birth.{{cite news|title=Springbok names in the news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127612461/14200270?zoomLevel=3|access-date=13 December 2013|newspaper=The Referee (Sydney)|date=8 July 1937|page=15}} He grew up in Sea Point and learnt rugby from the age of 8.{{cite news|title=Coach Bosward successfully applies African lessons to Wests|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127620939?searchTerm=%22Gerry%20Brand%22&searchLimits=|access-date=14 December 2013|newspaper=The Referee (Sydney)|date=29 July 1937}}
He attended Sea Point Boys High School, and as a young man played scrum-half for Hamiltons, whose name he carried. He was an introvert, according to his friend, Danie Craven.{{cite web|title=Gerrie Brand|url=http://www.genslin.us/bokke/SARugby.html|publisher=Enslin's Springbok Rugby Hall of Fame|access-date=11 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216155221/http://www.genslin.us/bokke/SARugby.html|archive-date=16 December 2013|url-status=dead}} In 1936 Brand helped Hamiltons win the provincial championship, a feat the club did not repeat for the next 73 years.{{cite news|last=Gaffney |first=Brian |title=Hamiltons get their kicks |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2009/09/15/PQ/11/bghamminew-QS.html |access-date=15 December 2013 |newspaper=Die Burger |date=15 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215100150/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2009/09/15/PQ/11/bghamminew-QS.html |archive-date=15 December 2013 |df=dmy }} The club instituted the Gerry Brand trophy for best full-back which was awarded to a Hamiltonian annually.{{cite news|title=Hamiltons vereer Charlie Marais [Hamiltons honour Charlie Marais] |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1988/09/26/19/2.html |access-date=17 December 2013 |newspaper=Die Burger |date=26 September 1988 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217072716/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1988/09/26/19/2.html |archive-date=17 December 2013 |df=dmy }}
During the rugby off-season Brand and his fellow Hamilton players supported and played for the local baseball team, the Sea Point Cardinals.{{cite journal|last=Cleophas |first=Francois J |author2=Floris J G Van der Merwe |title=Mapping out an obscured South African sport history landscape through Edward Henderson |journal=African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance |date=June 2011 |volume=17 |issue=2 |doi=10.4314/ajpherd.v17i2.67662 |url=http://sporttudomany.hu/Hirlevel/pdf/11/Edward_Henderson_RSA.pdf |access-date=15 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215073448/http://sporttudomany.hu/Hirlevel/pdf/11/Edward_Henderson_RSA.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2013 |df=dmy }} A 1934 Australian newspaper described Brand as an accomplished baseball player, and he did attain provincial colours in that sport.{{cite book|last=Donaldson|first=K C|title=The South African Sporting Encyclopedia and Who's who|year=1949|page=22|publisher=Donaldson's Publications|location=Johannesburg}} The newspaper speculated that Brand could be chosen for a proposed exchange of baseball tours between South Africa and Japan.
Rugby career
= Provincial career =
Brand was first selected to play for Western Province in 1927, the year that his team won the Currie Cup championships. He would turn out for Province until he was 38 years old. Along the way Brand scored 24 points in a match against South Western Districts, a record for a provincial game that stood until 1950, when it was surpassed by Basie Viviers.{{cite web|title= Basie Viviers dies in Brandfort|url=http://www.rugby365.com/all_news/sa/news/1995420.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022074528/http://www.rugby365.com/all_news/sa/news/1995420.htm|archive-date=2009-10-22|publisher=Rugby365.com|access-date=13 December 2013}} In 1934 Brand established a Currie Cup series record of 70 points in 6 matches – 67 points from kicks and 3 points from a solitary try.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135521348 |title=Baseballer, too|newspaper=The Referee |location=Sydney |date=14 February 1935 |access-date=15 December 2013 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
In 1945 Brand played his last match for the Western Province before retiring from rugby.
= International career =
In 1928 Brand made his debut for the Springboks on the wing against New Zealand, and played in two tests that year.
Brand was also selected for Bennie Osler's Springbok touring party to the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1931–32. He played in 18 of the 26 tour matches, scoring 72 points in total. In the test against England on 2 January 1932 Brand caught the ball close to the halfway line and against the touch line. Steadying himself, he calmly dropped a goal which travelled {{convert|77.7|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} from point of impact to where it landed in the stands. The kick was the highlight of an otherwise dour match and helped Brand's team to a 7–0 victory. His drop goal was later described as "probably the best drop goal ever seen at Twickenham".
Brand was appointed captain of the Western Province team in 1932. During 1933 he played in all five tests against the visiting Wallabies of 1933.
He was part of the 1937 Springbok tour to Australasia, during which he scored 90 points in seven matches – a record that stood for 56 years.{{cite web|title=Skrumskakels druk drieë [Scrum-halves score tries] |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1993/08/5/12/21.html |work=Beeld |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402185850/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1993/08/5/12/21.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy }} His 209 points in all for the tour became another long-standing record.{{cite web|title=Joost se 10 drieë is Bok-rekord Ruben, Robert spog elk met nege [Joost's 10 tries are Bok-record – Ruben, Robert boasts with 9 each] |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1993/08/12/18/1.html |work=Beeld |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100233/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1993/08/12/18/1.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy }} Brand kicked 69 conversions, which continues to be the record for most conversions on a Springbok tour.{{cite web|title=Player Profile – Gerhard Hamilton Brand |url=http://sarugby.dstv.com/index.php/component/players/46608?view=player |publisher=The South African Rugby Union |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213222239/http://sarugby.dstv.com/index.php/component/players/46608?view=player |archive-date=13 December 2013 |df=dmy }} The team lost only two matches and was regarded as the unofficial world rugby champions.{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Clem|title=125 Years of the British and Irish Lions: The Official History|year=2013|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|location=Edinburgh & London|isbn=978-1780576022|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/125yearsofbritis0000thom}} Brand and his 1937 teammates remain the only Springbok team so far "to win a full test series on New Zealand soil".{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Murray|title=In 1937, it was scrum, scrum, scrum|url=http://www.thepost.co.za/in-1937-it-was-scrum-scrum-scrum-1.548509|access-date=13 December 2013|newspaper=The Post|date=27 August 2005}}
On their 1938 tour to South Africa the British and Irish Lions encountered Brand in three defeats. He captained the Western Province Town and Country XV which handed the Lions their first defeat on tour. Brand's wide-angled kick during the dying minutes of the game propelled his team to an 11–8 victory. At Cape Town's Newlands Stadium Brand led the Western Province to a 21–11 triumph to which he contributed nine points.
His name was among the first listed for the Springboks for the first test at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. A record crowd of 36,000 watched Brand kick 14 points (4 conversions and 2 penalties) in the Springboks' 26–12 defeat of the Lions. The kicking contest between Brand and the Lions full-back, Vivian Jenkins, produced "two of the most remarkable goals ever kicked in rugby football". Jenkins succeeded with a 63-yard penalty kick, taken 8 yards inside his team's half of the field. Not to be outdone, Brand drop-kicked a 60-yard penalty from almost exactly the same place as his famous Twickenham kick.{{cite news|title=Gerry Brand – great test display; Far superior to Nepia.a|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17517366|access-date=13 December 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=10 September 1938|page=16}}
The test against the Lions proved to be Brand's last international game, as he picked up a recurring thigh injury during preparations for the second test.{{cite news|title=Springbok Full-back Retires|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38714356?searchTerm=%22Gerry%20Brand%22&searchLimits=|access-date=14 December 2013|newspaper=The Courier-Mail|location=Brisbane}} In all he turned out in 46 matches for the Springboks, scoring 293 points – a record only surpassed in the 1990s by the Springbok fly-half Naas Botha.{{cite web|title=Botha en Gerber verbeter hul rekords [Botha and Gerber improve their records] |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1992/08/17/16/3.html |work=Beeld |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402171958/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1992/08/17/16/3.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy }}{{cite web|title=NTvl se Joost van der Westhuizen druk sy 21ste Springbokdrie [NTvl's Joost van der Westhuizen scores his 21st Springbok try] |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1994/11/14/10/3.html |work=Beeld |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163240/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1994/11/14/10/3.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy }} Brand's tally still placed him 6th on the 2013 list of most points scored in all Springbok matches.{{cite web|title=South Africa – Statistics: Most points in ALL Springbok Matches (+200)|url=http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/records?view=full|publisher=Supersport.com|access-date=13 December 2013}}
Danie Craven said of Brand: "I regard him, along with Bennie Osler, as a legend among legends – an unforgettable Springbok".
Personal life
Brand was appointed a national selector in the 1960s and owned a filling station in Bloemfontein.{{cite web|title=Gerry Brand was een van wêreld se bestes [Gerry Brand was one of the world's bests] |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1996/02/6/13/8.html |publisher=Beeld |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022937/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1996/02/6/13/8.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy }} Later he lived in Fish Hoek outside Cape Town, and suffered a light stroke in 1987.{{cite news|title=Hammies se jaarvergadering [Hammies' annual meeting] |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1987/02/19/19/29.html |access-date=17 December 2013 |newspaper=Die Burger |date=19 February 1987 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217072946/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1987/02/19/19/29.html |archive-date=17 December 2013 |df=dmy }}
International statistics
Brand played in 16 tests for the Springboks during which he scored 55 points. He was renowned for never missing an important kick.
=Summary=
| class="wikitable unsortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" | |||||||||||
| style="width:35%;" |Team | {{Tooltip|Matches|Matches played}} | {{Tooltip|Won|Matches won}} | {{Tooltip|Draw|Matches draw}} | {{Tooltip|Lost|Matches lost}} | {{Tooltip|Tries|Tries scored}} | {{Tooltip|Con|Conversions scored}} | {{Tooltip|Pen|Penalty goals scored}} | {{Tooltip|Drop|Drop goals scored}} | {{Tooltip|Points|Total points scored}} | {{Tooltip|P/M|Points per Match}} | {{Tooltip|%Won|Percentage of matches won}} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left"| {{nrut|South Africa}} – Test matches | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 55 | {{#expr:55/16round 2}} | {{#expr:14/16*100 round 2}} |
| align="left"| {{nrut|South Africa}} – Tour matches | 30 | na | na | na | 2 | 87 | 18 | 1 | 238 | {{#expr:238/30round 2}} | na |
=Test match record=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| No | Opponents | Results (SA 1st) | Position | Points | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 1. | {{ru|NZL}} | align="center"|7–6 | Wing | 21 Jul 1928 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | |
| 2. | {{ru|NZL}} | align="center"| 11–6 | Wing | 18 Aug 1928 | Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth | |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 3. | {{ru|WAL|1807}} | align="center"|8–3 | Full-back | 5 Des 1931 | St Helen's, Swansea | |
| 4. | {{ru|IRE}} | align="center"|8–3 | Full-back | 19 Dec 1931 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin | |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 5. | {{ru|ENG}} | align="center"|7–0 | Full-back | 4 (1 drop) | 2 Jan 1932 | Twickenham, London |
| 6. | {{ru|SCO}} | align="center"| 6–3 | Full-back | 19 Jan 1932 | Murrayfield, Edinburgh | |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 7. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|17–3 | Full-back | 5 (1 penalty & 1 conversion) | 8 Jul 1933 | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town |
| 8. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|6–21 | Full-back | 3 (1 penalty) | 22 Jul 1933 | Kingsmead, Durban |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 9. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|12–3 | Full-back | 2 (1 conversion) | 12 Aug 1933 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 10. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|11–0 | Wing | 3 (1 penalty) | 26 Aug 1933 | Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 11. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|4–15 | Wing | 4 (1 drop) | 2 Sep 1933 | Springbok Park, Bloemfontein |
| 12. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|9–3 | Full-back | 3 (1 penalty) | 26 Jun 1937 | Sydney Cricket Ground |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 13. | {{ru|AUS}} | align="center"|26–17 | Full-back | 8 (4 conversions) | 17 Jul 1937 | Sydney Cricket Ground |
| 14. | {{ru|NZL}} | align="center"|13–6 | Full-back | 7 (1 penalty & 2 conversions) | 4 Sep 1937 | Lancaster Park, Christchurch |
| style="background: #D0E6FF;"
| 15. | {{ru|NZL}} | align="center"|17–6 | Full-back | 2 (1 conversion) | 25 Sep 1937 | Eden Park, Auckland |
| 16. | {{flagicon|UK}} British Isles | align="center"|26–12 | Full-back | 14 (2 penalties & 4 conversions) | 6 Aug 1938 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
Legend: try (3 pts); pen = penalty (3 pts.); conv = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (4 pts.).
References
{{Reflist|25em}}
{{1937 Springboks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Gerry}}
Category:Rugby union players from Cape Town
Category:South Africa international rugby union players
Category:South African rugby union players
Category:Rugby union fullbacks
Category:South African baseball players