Jannie de Beer may have only featured in 13 Tests for the Springboks, but he remains one of the most memorable players to have donned the green and gold.
The talented flyhalf largely found himself behind Henry Honiball in the pecking order, but when the legendary Sharks player sustained an injury in the 1999 World Cup, De Beer was promoted to the starting line-up for the crunch quarter-final clash against England.
History was to follow. In a match that will always be fondly remembered, De Beer famously slotted a world record five drop goals in one of the most legendary displays of executing this skill.
On the day, De Beer also kicked a further five penalties and two conversions for a then Springbok record personal tally of 34 points as South Africa secured a 44-21 win to advance to the semi-finals where they took on Australia.
He helped further cement his place in Springbok history with a last minute penalty to level the scores and force force extra time against the Wallabies in the subsequent semi-final, although Australia ultimately went on to win the match from there. It proved to be his final appearance for the Springboks.
Springbok star Jannie de Beer also enjoyed a prolific domestic career
De Beer was only 19-years-old when he made his provincial debut for the Cheetahs, and he would also become an iconic figure at the Free State team.
As a prolific kicking flyhalf, he would ultimately score over 900 points for the Cheetahs alone during a career that spanned the better part of the 1990s.
De Beer also represented the Junior Springboks, SA Barbarians, Cats, Bulls, London Scottish and Saracens.
WHERE IS HE NOW?
Similarly to his playing days, De Beer has largely kept a low-profile since retiring, at least partly due to the face he in fact relocated to Namibia.
He has remained involved in the game, though, and back in 2019 it was confirmed that he been appointed as Windhoek Gymnasium’s director of rugby.
Colette Rieckert, the managing director of Windhoek Gymnasium outlined De Beer’s responsibilities:
“We recently created the position of director of rugby, which is more than just a rugby coach, and Jannie will serve as an ambassador for rugby to fulfil our vision of promoting rugby in our community and country. He will be responsible for the administration and for putting structures in place from the ‘tjokkers’ playing tag rugby, up to the first rugby team,” she said.
“The primary responsibility of the director of rugby is the development of an engaging, challenging and inclusive program across all age groups. Together with the rugby committee, De Beer will ensure that our boys are inspired to be active for life and harness the power of sport to support well being, develop character and make a positive contribution to society,” she added.
To this end, De Beer has also been involved with the Elite Sport Mentorship programme that has done various work around Namibia to support young sports people.
WHAT ARE YOUR FONDEST MEMORIES FROM HIS CAREER?
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