Daan Retief

Daniël Francois Retief (28 June 1925 – 22 September 2010) was a South African rugby union player.

Playing career Retief matriculated at Lichtenburg High School and took his BCom degree at the University of Pretoria. He started his career as a wing for and later switched to loose-forward.

Retief made his test match debut for against Robin Thompson's British Lions side in 1955 at Ellis Park in front of over 90,000 fans. He toured with the Springboks to Australia and New Zealand in 1956 and was one of the few players who represented South Africa in all six Test matches on the tour. On the tour he scored 11 tries, 3 of which were in tests and during a difficult tour where the team was plagued by injuries, Retief played in 18 games.

Test history No. Opponents Results(SA 1st) Position Tries Dates Venue 1. 25–9 Number 8 6 Aug 1955 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 2. British Lions 6–9 Number 8 20 Aug 1955 Newlands, Cape Town 3. British Lions 22–8 Number 8 1 24 Sep 1955 Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth 4. 9–0 Flank 1 26 May 1956 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 5. 9–0 Flank 1 2 Jun 1956 Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane 6. 6–10 Flank 14 Jul 1956 Carisbrook, Dunedin 7. 8–3 Flank 1 4 Aug 1956 Athletic Park, Wellington 8. 10–17 Number 8 18 Aug 1956 Lancaster Park, Christchurch 9. 5–11 Flank 1 Sep 1956 Eden Park, Auckland